


T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D

by Imagine333



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst and Humor, Blindness, Deaf Character, Drowning, Hurt Ianto Jones, Hurt Jack Harkness, Hurt/Comfort, Jack Harkness Whump, M/M, Panic Attacks, Protective Jack Harkness, Sick Ianto Jones, Temporary Character Death - Jack Harkness, Whump, oneshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24232963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imagine333/pseuds/Imagine333
Summary: Torchwood Mnemonic. A selection of one-shots based on Jack and Ianto whump. One for each letter of ‘Torchwood.’ (Each can be read separately) ENJOY!
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 26
Kudos: 122





	1. T is for Tourist

**T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D**

**Summary:** Torchwood Mnemonic. A selection of one-shots based on Jack and Ianto whump. Aiming for one for each letter of ‘Torchwood.’ (Each can be read separately) ENJOY!

 **Chapter Summary:** Ianto is attacked in the tourist office. Set Season 2. Post To The Last Man, but before Meat.

 **Disclaimer:** Unfortunately Torchwood and all its characters belong to RTD

 **Chapter One** : T is for Tourist

Ianto sat at his desk, typing away at some reports while keeping an ear out for customers. He’d decided to do a stint in the Tourist office while everything was quiet, always feeling it was important to keep up their cover.

When he had first arrived at Torchwood, the office was in shambles. Pamphlets were out of date and covered in dust with Jack excusing that they ‘ _were too busy saving the world’._ Instantly, Ianto had argued ‘ _how long you’d take to start to question four people coming in and out of a disused office at god all hours of the day and night’_ apart from an inappropriate innuendo, Jack had no comeback and had allowed Ianto to clean up.

Chucking out everything from the room, he’d ordered new timetables, leaflets and other memorabilia. At first he’d tried to keep to specific opening times, but since being allowed on field missions, he had less time on his hands. However, Ianto still tried to open it as much as possible. He’d ensured it wasn’t as much as ‘grand’ so that it encouraged a great stream of customers at once, but there was still an odd few with queries on directions and events.

The front door creaked, pulling Ianto from his musing. He’d saved his half-finished report and pushed the curtain aside. Smiling, he welcomed a young woman and child who looked about six years of age.

“Hello Ma’am. Can I help?”

“Oui, we are looking for a… er _de dépliant…de_ leaver….leafat…”

The women had a strong French accent, and Ianto was thankful French had been one of the subjects he’d excelled in, helped by his almost eidetic memory.

“A leaflet? What on … et quoi?”

“Oui. Er…Castell Coch?”

As he searched the stack for a French edition of the leaflet, his comm beeped in his ear. Certain it was Jack (who else?), he tapped his ear to unmute the mic.

“How can I help you sir?”

“My my... _Sir_. What have a done to warrant this professionalism? Anyway, there’s been a Rift Alert. It seems we have a stray Hoix on the loose in Cardiff City Centre. Wanna tag along?”

“I’m afraid I’m currently with a customer, Jack, sorry.” Sensing Jack was about argue, he continued. “I’m sure you can survive without me. I’ll make it up to you later.” The hint in the comment did not go unnoticed.

“Ooh, Ok. I’ll look forward to it.”

Jack hung up as he found the leaflet which he quickly handed it over to the woman.

“Sorry about that – my boss. Anything else I can help with?”

“Non. Merci - ”. 

The woman was interrupted surprisingly her son, who was standing straight as if to make himself taller, trying to see over the front desk.

“Monsieur, is your boss’ name really Jack? That’s my name too!”

Grinning, Ianto stepped around the counter, squatting down to the boy’s level.

“Wow. You can’t be the same person though can you because that would be impossible – though in my opinion he does sometimes act like a kid…?

The boy – who he had mentally christened Jack Jr. – giggled. “No way! I’m too small to be boss, plus we move from France.”

“That’s true. Well then, I have to say your English is great.”

“Really! Yay! Dada taught me. He said I learn fast and now better than Mama.”

“Oh really?” Ianto smiled up at the woman, who returned the gesture. “Maybe you’ll have to help your Ma with hers”

The boy grinned and looked at his Mama. “Can I?”

The door creaking open again disturbed the happy moment and a tall, heavily built man staggered in. He was visibly drunk, hands clenched, coat filthy and eyes bloodshot. Ianto tensed at the arrival, praying the man had sense not to cause a scene with a child around.

“Oi. What’d it take to get some bloody service out here?”

“Sorry, Sir. I’ll be with you in a minute. I’m just finishing-”

I don’t fucking care. You do what I say, boy!”

Alarm bells were beginning to ring in Ianto’s head and he slowly stood up. Hopefully, he could deal with the man quickly before there was any trouble.

“Yes Sir. How can I help?”

“I take it you know everything round here right, so you must know where my wife and my good for nothing kid live”

The man was getting angry, but for Ianto the situation was becoming slightly clearer.

“Sorry, this office is only for tourist information; we can’t give off that sort of personal data”

“Oh, now I’m sorry. It seems I didn’t make myself clear enough. It wasn’t optional!”

Jack Jr. screamed as the man reached into his pocket and withdrew a gun, wavering it unsteadily at Ianto. Shielding the young couple with his body, he ushered them down behind the counter, before raising his hands. His own gun was in the drawer. He’d might be able to grab it in time, but this was meant to be a tourist office in Wales, you couldn’t easily explain away the presence of a gun. Anyway, he couldn’t exactly start a firefight with civilians here.

“Careful, no-one needs to get hurt. Put the gun down.”

Ianto eyes flickered slightly in the direction of the security camera, wondering if Jack was watching as he often did, before remembering that they’d probably already left on the rift call. Unfortunately, his action hadn’t gone unnoticed and he flinched as the man swung the gun round, firing shots randomly at the ceiling, shattering the camera.

The sound of muffled crying from under the counter made him cross. He took the chance while the man was still distracted by the camera, launching himself forward. Using the training Jack had drilled in him after the incident in the Beacons, he pinned the man’s arm to his side, twisting his wrist until he drop the gun in pain.

Temporarily distracted as he kicked the gun across the room, he didn’t see the man’s other hand grab a paperweight from the counter, until it hit him hard behind the ear.

His comm scattered across the floor as Ianto fell forward, striking his head against the corner of the desk, causing it to bleed. He collapsed face first on the floor, unconscious.

Panicking, the man fled from the office, sweeping up the gun from the floor and slamming the door behind him. After as few seconds of silence, the boy pulled out of his mother’s grasp and began to edge out from where he’d been hidden and towards his new friend.

“Monsieur, are you okay. Monsieur?” The young boy shook Ianto softly, but there was no reaction. “Mama! He not woke up. He need a doctor!”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack winced in pain as he strode towards the SUV. The Hoix had been particularly agitated and had ignored the food bait trap they’d set. In the end, it had taken all of them to restrain it so that Owen could sedate it, but not before Jack had gotten taste of how sharp its teeth were as they clamped around his arm. It had almost ripped his bloody arm off. And to top it all of he’d ruined another shirt – Ianto was going to be pissed. He’d had to replace half a dozen already this month.

The others piled the alien into the boot as Jack moved round to the driver side door. He gingerly pulled out his keys, only to have the swiped away instantly by Owen and chucked to Gwen.

“Uh-uh. No driving for you Mister. You’re still dripping blood everywhere.”

“Owen, come on! It’ll be healed any minute.”

“And that’s one minute for you to cause an accident, especially with your driving and I personally want to get back to the Hub _before_ our friend in the back decides to wake up. Now no arguing - Doctor’s orders!”

Jack glared steadily at Owen briefly before giving up and moving to the passenger side. Owen outranked him on medical issues. “Fine. I’ll let Ianto know we’re coming back.”

As Gwen set off back toward the Hub, Jack opened the comm connection so Ianto could hear him.

“Ianto. We’re on our way back. Do you think you prepare a cell for the Hoix? … Ianto?”

Jack frowned, confused at the lack of the reply and checked the connection. Assured it was on, he tried again. “Ianto, can you hear me? …Ianto!”

This time there was a response but not from the voice he expected, and a lot closer.

“Jack. No need to shout. He’s probably taken off he’s comm. Relax. You know what Teaboy’s like when he’s busy.”

Jack fell silent but kept the line open, hoping to hear something. He was worried. Owen was right, he did know what Ianto was like, which is why he knew Ianto would never take off his comm while the others were out, in case back up was ever needed.

Sensing Jack’s mood, no one spoke for the rest of the journey, until they neared the Plass.

“Owen give the Hoix another dose and then it can wait. Gwen drop us here, park the car and come join us.”

Jack was out the car before it had fully stopped. He strode straight for the tourist entrance, ignoring Tosh and Owen’s continuous calls as they struggled to catch up. “Jack? What’s going on? Jack!”

Eventually Jack responded, barely pausing in his steps. “I don’t know OK. I just have a bad feeling.”

“Hell Jack, seriously! You’re over-reacting…”

Jack held up his hand to cut Owen off. The Tourist office door was ajar, and swallowing a wave of panic, Jack pulled out his Webley. Mirroring his action, the other two drew their own gun.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***TW***

The office was empty as the cautiously creeped in, guns ready. At first glance, nothing seemed out of place but as Jack continued forward, something broke under his foot. The others continued past him, clearing the rest of the room as he bent down. Picking up the object to inspect it, he froze when he recognised Ianto comm earpiece. His stomach was churning stronger than before, he’d been hoping the feeling he got in the car had been wrong.

“Jack, here!” Owen startled him from his thoughts. Glancing over at what he had found caused his heart to fill with fear and vanished any hope he’d had that Ianto had maybe just dropped his comm.

Blood discoloured the wood of the counter, the stains running down the edge to join a puddle on the floor. The sight of it energised Jack and releasing the lock for the hidden door, he charged down the steps into the Hub, refusing to wait for the lift.

“Ianto! Are you here! Answer me, Yan. Ianto!”

Silence.

Everything was exactly as they’d left it, and though there was no sign of Ianto, Jack could help but feel a positive spark when he noticed that there was also no more blood. After checking Ianto’s desk in the archives, he returned to the main level just as an alarm signified the entry of Owen and Tosh.

Turning towards them, he shook his head in frustration, before kicking a chair. “What the HELL HAPPENED HERE!”

Owen ignored the raised voice. “Don’t know. But the blood’s half dry, so I’m reckoning it happened about an 45 – 60 mins ago. Good news is there not a life-threatening amount in the office, but the bad news is Tosh noticed there’s bullet holes in the ceiling which smashed the camera, so if he’s shot, he’d might be losing more as we speak.”

Jack blanched at the comment, mentally visualising Ianto being shot and was thankfully interrupted by Gwen who’d apparently arrived mid-conversation.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ianto’s missing – and he’s hurt.”

The response surprisingly came from Tosh, who’d been silent so far. Jack had always suspected that Tosh and Ianto had a closer friendship than they displayed. The finality of her statement however was almost too much for Jack.

“Ping his phone and check the CCTV footage from before it got smashed. Come find me if – _when_ – you find anything. I’ll be in my office.”

Entering his office, he went directly to his bunker, pausing only to chuck his coat on his chair, heart clenching when he remembered Ianto wasn’t here to complain and hang it up neatly. Moving almost mechanically to his wardrobe, he refused to look at his unmade bunk. He couldn’t believe that not 6 hours ago, Ianto and him had rolled out of it together. Luckily, he was now fully healed but he simply just changed his shirt – not bothering with crusted blood on his skin. Opening his hidden whiskey stash, he slumped in his chair to wait for news, drinking straight from the bottle.

He hadn’t be there 10 mins when Tosh entered his office above him. “Jack?” After waiting for him to reach the top of the ladder, she continued. “We think we found something.”

“His phone give you a location?” Jack asked, looking hopeful as he followed Tosh out the office.

“No, his phone and wallet are still in the tourist office, but we’ve watched the CCTV footage to give us a clearer picture. Watch.”

Tosh pointed towards a computer screen. The sound wasn’t on but he watched, getting increasingly angry as he witnessed a man pulling out a gun and threatening Ianto, while also feeling a sense of pride at how his lover protected the couple. He almost could hide his flinch as the gun turned towards the camera and the screen turned black.

“Is that it? What about the external cameras?” Even as he enquired, he knew it would be a dead end. The security camera outside the tourist entrance had been broken for months, Ianto always planning to fix it but never having the time.

“Nothing sorry there, I even checked the Plass camera...”

Jack looked at the floor, despondent, but Tosh continued with a smile.

“…however, I ran the footage through facial recognition and got a hit on the man – he’s in the system.”

Looking up again, Jack’s eyes were wide with anticipation.

“Roy Burner. 52. Divorced wife and 14-year-old daughter. Multiple past reports of suspected domestic abuse, but no evidence so nothing stuck. I pinged his phone. He’s home – and I’ve got the address.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Roy Burner was passed out on his sofa when Jack burst through the front door. Filling a glass, he poured cold water on the man’s face, making him sit up in shock at the four people standing angrily in his living room. He barely had time to gain his senses before his found himself pulled up and thrown against the wall.

Jack pressed an arm across the man’s chest to pin him in place, but it was obviously it wasn’t necessary when the man froze, feeling a gun pressed against his forehead, but it didn’t seem to stop his mouth.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Where is he?” Jack almost spat out the words with gritted teeth, pressing the barrel harder until the man winced with pain.

“What the heck talking about? Get the hell out of my house!”

“Ianto Jones. If you’ve hurt him I swear to God…”

“Never heard of him. Who do you think I am?”

“Tourist office. Today. What did you do to him?”

“What? Nothing.”

Jack moved his arm up so it pressed against the man’s throat, hard enough to restrict his breathing. “Liar! We have you on camera, and now he’s missing. What do you expect us to think. So, I’ll ask you again - where is he? And if you lie to me again, I’ll shoot – don’t think I won’t!”

There was no reply until Owen piped up behind him.

“Jack. He has to breathe to talk!”

Jack loosened his arm slightly, not realising he’d been pressing so hard. The man leaned forward, spluttering as he tried to catch his breath, but froze again as he heard the gun cock.

“Alright, don’t shoot! We fought but he started it okay. You kids have no respect for their elders nowadays”

Without an answer, Jack changed his tactic. Holstering his weapon, he grabbed the guy by the collar at the scuff of his neck, pulling his head back and dragging him to the car. The others followed, their own guns still raised.

Arriving back at the Hub, he offered no explanation to the confused man as he marched directly towards the cells. Shoving him against the glass of Janet’s cell, Jack leaned forward and whispered harshly in his ear.

“You’ve messed with the wrong people. Now think carefully or Janet here is going to have a early dinner, and I have a feeling she’s very fond of Ianto so trust me when I say it won’t be quick. So, one last chance. What. Did. You. Do. To. Ianto!

The man was visibly trembling at the sight of the weevil, trying to struggle back but fruitlessly in Jack’s grip. 

“I didn’t do anything I swear. I just knocked him out. Nothing else honest. Please. Get me away from it.” In other circumstances, Jack might have laughed at how the man had been reduced to a whimpering mess, but now he only sighed dejectedly. Locking the man into the adjacent cell, he left without looking back, returning to the main level, where it was clear the others had be watching on the CCTV.

“What do you think?”

“Well he’s story hasn’t really changed even though he was almost pissing himself with fear. As much as I hate to admit it – I think he’s telling the truth.” Owen declared, and looking around the girl nodded in agreement.

“So what? That It? Back to square one? Ianto out there - God knows where – with a fucking head wound. He could be unconscious even and don’t have a single clue where the BLOODY HELL HE IS!”

“Jack!” This was Tosh. “Shouting isn’t going to help. Ianto survived worse than this. He’s strong – he’ll be fine.”

“We still have to find him.”

“What about the woman and child?” Owen cut in “Could they have something to do with this?”

“Tosh? Any luck on facial rec?”

“No. No hits in the local database or in the UK. I can widen the parameters to worldwide but it might take a while.”

“Do it.”

With that, he stormed into his office, slamming the door behind him. Ianto has been missing, injured, for nearly three hours now, and he was beginning to become desperate. He’d only just got him back after his death at the hands of the Master. He couldn’t lose him again. Not this soon. He slouched in his desk chair and pulling a folder out of the drawer, he gently fingered the stapled image on the front.

The rest of the team worked sullenly, trying to gain some new leads on their friend’s whereabouts. The tapping of keyboards was all they could hear until the sound of Gwen’s mobile broke the silence and looking at the caller ID, she answered the phone. Owen almost growled under his breath, if it was Rhys, he was going to kill her. There were more important matters at hand. However, he was surprised at Gwen response.

“Andy, hi. Sorry, we’re a bit busy right –“

Interrupted, Gwen was quiet for a while before continuing excitedly.

“What! Is he okay?” Tosh’s head also rose to join Owen’s at that comment, but if Gwen knew they was being stared at, she didn’t comment. “No we didn’t. Thanks Andy. Really.”

Gwen was up and on her way to Jack’s office before she’d fully hung up, calling his name continuously.

“Jack!” Pushing open his door without knocking, she felt she was interrupting something, but didn’t bother to wait as Jack sat forward, clearing his eyes self-consciously.

“That was Andy. He’s at St Helen’s Hospital saying was called in to a reported assault case on a John Doe. Jack! He said it was Ianto.”

Jack was moving before she’d even finished, Tosh and Owen looking a mixture of confused and worried, as he strode towards the Cog Door. He didn’t stop, simply calling out behind him as he left.

“Gwen will catch you up. Stay here. I’ll call later.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack thundered into the hospital reception. The whole car journey his mind had be conjuring hundreds of different possibilities, almost making him crazy. He headed for the front desk but stopped when he saw Andy walking towards him with who he suspected was a nurse.

“Well isn’t it Mr Mulder? Thought I’d be seeing you soon.”

“Andy! Thanks for the call…”

“No problem. I’d better be getting back to the station. I have a feeling you’ll be taking the case from me.”

“Yes. Well no. We already caught the guy from the security camera, we just didn’t know where Ianto was. You’re more than welcome to the scumbag.” Well maybe after a couple doses of retcon Jack added to himself.

“Really?” Andy looked surprised “We’ll organise it in the morning then. This is Dr Jane, she’s Ianto’s Doctor.”

After watching Andy leave, Jack turned to Jane, not wasting time with introductions. “Where’s Ianto? How is he?”

“He’s upstairs. Room 339. I’ll take you to him. It seems he was hit on his head hard a least a couple of times, but the woman who came in with him didn’t know his name, and he had no ID on him so we’ll need some information from you.”

“That’s fine – but he’ll be alright?”

“He lost a bit of blood but he’s stable at the moment. We’re fairly certain he’s only got a moderate concussion but we have to wait for him to wake up to be sure.”

“He’s still out?” Jack asked, worried.

“Yes. He woke up briefly when he first arrived, but not long enough for us to run any tests. We just have to be patient – he’s wake up when he’s ready.” The doctor patted Jack reassuringly on the shoulder and pointed towards a door. “I’ll be out here if you need me.”

As if trying not to disturbed anyone, Jack crept into the hospital room slowly. His gaze instantly fell on the figure in the bed who looked if he could have been simply sleeping save for the bandage round his head and the IV connected to his hand. A range of multi-coloured cables also ran from under the blankets to the monitor that was beeping regularly. Jack drank in the sight of the man he’d – half an hour ago – thought he might not see again.

“Are you Jack?”

Startled, Jack span around. A woman was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room, a young boy asleep in her arms.

“Yes?” Jack replied, slightly apprehensively.

“Bonjour. Nice to meet you. I do not mean to intrude. We will go now. Little Jack here didn’t want to leave, et it did not seem right to leave him, especially when nobody knew who he is.”

“It’s fine” Jack flashed is usual, warming smile. “You’re the lady that helped him then? Thank you.”

“No worry - he help us first. Thank him for us?”

“Will do.”

The woman left, carrying her son so gently and with much practice that he didn’t even wake. Jack pulled the chair closer to bed, clasped Ianto’s hand in his and leaned forward, pressing a brief kiss to the Welshman’s forehead. Settling down in the chair to wait, he didn’t let go of his hand.

It was another hour and half before Ianto begun to stir. After calling the team to apprise them of the situation and suggest they take off home early, he’d fallen into a repetitive routine of reciting one of his familiar, unbelievable stories of space travel, followed by a stints of silent musing.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost missed the first twitch of the hand in his, but by the second, he was up out of his chair, his other hand reaching out to press the call button by the pillow.

“Ianto?” He was answered with a slight groan and a flicker of the eyelids, so Jack continued, squeezing his hand. “That’s it Ianto, almost there. Open your eyes, Yan.”

“-ack?”

“Yes it me. Come on Yan, I want to see those stunning blue eyes of yours.”

His eyes flickered a few more times but this time they eyes stayed open. “Jack?” Ianto repeated, more clearly this time, but still slightly slurred.

“There you go. Sleeping on the job were we? You’re safe – you’re in the hospital.”

“Hospital?” Jack didn’t really have time to answer before he was pushed out the room by a group of nurses, wanting to run tests. By the time, he was allowed back in, Ianto was sitting up slightly and looking more alert.

“Hey. How are you? What did the doctors say?”

“Hey back. Killer headache and concussion, but nothing permanent. From what the Doctor are saying it seems I have a hard head.” He grinned trying the relieve some of the tension he felt in the room. “What happened? How long was I out? Is everyone okay?”

“You don’t remember?” Jack asked, looking worried again.

“Relax. Doc said it was normal and might come back to me soon, but no.”

“Ok” Jack still didn’t seem convinced, but dropped the subject. “You’ve been out about 5-6 hours I think, and everyone else is fine – this wasn’t Torchwood related.”

“Then what was it?” Ianto asked, trying to think.

“You were attacked. In the tourist office.”

The words seemed to trigger something and Jack had to almost hold Ianto down to stop him ripping his IV out, as the memories returned to him.

“The woman? Jack? Are they Ok? Did he hurt them?”

Jack, remembering what the woman had called her son, smiled calmingly, still keeping hold of Ianto.

“They’re fine Ianto. You did good. They wanted me to say thanks. But you -” Jack paused until he had Ianto’s full attention before grinning cheekily. “I’m thinking I need to put a tracker on you. I was out of my mind. I thought I’d never see you again…”

Jack trailed off as Ianto looked at him with a puzzled expression so he leapt into an explanation of the last few hours and how they had no clue where he’d been.

“You didn’t think to check the hospitals?” Ianto asked, incredulously.

Jack looked almost awkward. “I didn’t think I had to. I have an automated system set up to alert me if any of you end up in hospital – but coz you had no ID it didn’t work.”

Ianto nearly laughed at Jack’s expression. “Hmm. Might be something to think about when I get back.” He briefly closed his eyes, wincing at the pain in his skill, and hoped, unsuccessfully, that Jack didn’t notice.

“Get some rest,” Jack whispered, rubbing his shoulder. “You need it.”

“Stay?” Ianto asked, barely audibly, already half asleep.

“Naturally”.

**Note: There. The End. That took days! Made me notice how much of my last story was mainly Ianto’s thoughts, yet this one barely had him in. Anyway, as described in the summary, I am aiming for 9 stories based on each letter of ‘Torchwood’, so Jack whump up next up with O is for Optical. Hopefully will only take me a few days but in the meantime feel free to watch my new Torchwood Fanvid.**

**Link:**<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AxxRx3sTvA> **or search “Torchwood Fanvid – Alan Walker Medley” into youtube.**


	2. O is for Optical

**T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D**

**Summary:** Torchwood Mnemonic. A selection of one-shots based on Jack and Ianto whump. Aiming for one for each letter of ‘Torchwood.’ (Each can be read separately) ENJOY!

 **Chapter Summary:** An alien blinds Jack. How does he cope? Set before Reset in Season 2.

**Words:**

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately Torchwood and all its characters belong to RTD

 **Chapter Two** : O is for Optical

“I can’t believe you managed to get a table, in a _restaurant_ , at 3 in the morning” Ianto exclaimed in-between mouthfuls of his steak. “Scratch that. I can’t believe you _got_ me, on a date, at 3 in the morning. I should have known you were scheming something when you forced me to rest earlier, despite all of us being completely busy.”

Jack grinned cheekily from across the table. “I know people, and the rift waits for no man. Tosh predicts the rift is going to mayhem soon, so I wanted to take you out while we had the chance.”

No more than 2 minutes after Jack’s statement, a loud beeping from Jack’s wrist-strap interrupted them. Ianto pushed his half-finished plate away and sighed. “You had to jinx it, didn’t you.”

“I did no such thing” Jack replied indignantly. “Rift alert in a warehouse three miles from here. Come on, it won’t take us long, especially if we call Owen to help”

Leaving a cheque and generous tip on the table, the two left for the SUV. As Jack drove, Ianto struggled to maintain his composure as he called Owen, wincing internally at both Jack’s awful driving and Owen’s few choice words at being woken up.

The car skidded to a stop at the warehouse in under 10 minutes, tires squealing as Jack jumped out before instantly pulling out different bags of equipment from the boot, which Ianto constantly ensured, was fully prepared for any situation. Drawing their weapons, they ventured inside, following the energy readings that Ianto had linked to a PDA.

The readings weren’t very strong so it was took them a moment to locate the exact area it was coming from. Stealing a look round a corner, they were greeted with sight of large black and red alien. It was large and humanoid in shape, but more animalistic, crouched on all fours and snarling.

Looking closer, Ianto could see it was favouring a leg, and wondered whether if it was hurt. About to ask Jack if he’d seen the same thing, he jumped at voice behind them.

“If you’re going to drag me out of bed at god knows what time in the morning, the least you could do is actually wait for me to show up.”

Startled, Ianto swung around weapon poised, but lowered it when he saw it was only Owen. The doctor just looked annoyed, while Jack simply shushed them, eyes not leaving the alien. Owen crept closer to join them, eyes bulking at the sight of the alien. “What the bloody hell is that”

“It’s a Nixik.” Jack supplied. “Crafty little buggers sometimes. I overheard once….”

“That is not little!” Owen interrupted.

“I’ll have you know there are a lot of aliens out there bigger than this.” Jack crowed, and Ianto could have rolled his eyes at the argument as Owen continued.

“Yeah. Then if you’re knowledgeable, then I guess you have a plan on how to catch it.”

“Err well no. Never actually met one personally, but the stories…. Anyway, first time for everything. Come on”

Jack moved towards the Nixik, but an arm pulled him backward. “You want to actually tell us the plan?” Ianto asked, an amused tone to his voice. Jack smirked in response, replying as if they were only planning a birthday party.

“Easy. Owen go left. Ianto right. I’ll distract it. Use the tranquiliser on my signal, it’s injured enough”

Not loving the vague plan but not having time to argue, Ianto followed his plan, mirrored closely by Owen as they stealthy surrounded the alien.

Ignoring the others’ movement in the corner of his eyes, Jack focused on the Nixik, creeping closer and trying to catch it’s attention. “Hey there. What happened to you eh?” The alien didn’t seem to appreciate his presence, tensing and baring it teeth at him as if growling a warning. Not letting the actions discourage him though, Jack held his hands up in return as a calming gesture. “We’re not going to harm you. We’re trying to help, but you can’t stay here.”

Finally, Jack noticed it seemed to be working, the Nixik slowly calming down. As he edged closer, he risked a look at Owen who was readying his tranquiliser gun. The alien had not registered their presence as planned, but before he could signal Owen to fire, a clatter from the ceiling – _birds_ he’d think in hindsight – reverberated across the warehouse. Jack had no warning as it reared up, startled, a stinger materialising from where it had previously been camouflaged against its back, piercing into his shoulder. He bit back a scream as pain jolted through his whole body, barely noticing the floor rushing up to meet him. He could feel himself shaking and couldn’t help but feel a flash of relief as the world went black.

Ianto watched horrified as Jack collapsed onto the floor convulsing violently for what seemed like forever before finally laying still. While he knew Jack would come back, he couldn’t help but feel a spark of grief in his heart. Even if Jack couldn’t stay dead, he was now well aware of how much it hurt his lover, every time he revived.

“Fuck” Owen swore from the other side of the room, but it wasn’t until he heard the retort of the tranq gun, that he finally stole his gaze away from Jack and watched the sedative slowly subdue the Nixik until it joined the Captain on the floor.

After assuring it was safe, the two team members rushed over to the figures on the ground, Owen securing the alien along with injecting another sedative for insurance before looking over to where Ianto was checking on Jack.

“We can’t wait here, we need to get back before it wakes. How the hell are we getting both of them in the car? Trust him to die when there’s only two of us. Does he know how heavy he is…?”

Meanwhile Ianto had automatically moved to position Jack in his arm, as a support for when he woke up. Wrapping his arms around the others chest, he almost thought he imagined it when he noticed a subtle movement under his arms. He could hear Owen talking in the background but ignored him, as he shifted to reach a hand up to feel Jack neck, stiffening slightly with shock as he felt a weak pulse.

“Owen!” He called, moving the edges of Jack’s greatcoat aside so he could find and see the wound that was still sluggishly bleeding. Applying pressure, he worried at the lack of response from Jack at the pain. “Owen! He’s not dead.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack awoke to a blackness eerily familiar to whenever he died and wondered momentarily if he was still dead. His mind swirled with confusion; he’d always faded into the blackness, not woken to it. His head was throbbing weakly however, and he struggled to focus his thoughts as he realised it had been from the start. _Not dead then – revived?”_ He hadn’t made his usual gasp for breath though and, apart from his head, his body felt surprisingly numb, unlike the pain he often quoted as “shards of glass”. He could feel his eyelids flickering open and closed and panic flooded him as he realised everything remained black. _Where was he?_ He remembered the date with Ianto, the rift call, the Nixik. _What had happened? Was Ianto okay?_

After a while, he could feel the numbness begin to fade and he could move again. Feeling a mattress under his back and that he was dressed in an undershirt and sweatpants, simply increased his confusion, and his other senses came back in a rush. He could now pick out the familiar sounds of the Hub and the musty smell of his bunker that he’d lived in for around a century. The realisation that he was in the Hub did nothing to quell is fears as he still couldn’t see and the one thing he knew for sure at the moment was that even without windows the Hub was never pitch black.

Reaching up to around his eyes, he hoped there might only be something covering them but was dismayed to feel his own skin under his hands. _Was he blind?_ He couldn’t – could he?

 _What happened? Where was everyone?_ Jack queried again. Deciding he was doing no good lying down, he swung round to sit up, squashing back a wave for vertigo at the movement. Using his memory to try and find the ladder, he stumbled over a chair that had been moved to beside the bed, both him and the chair crashing face-first to the floor. He lay still for a moment, trying to gain his bearings when he noticed sounds in what he expected was his office above him. A voice with the same welsh lint he knew as Ianto’s reached his ears and he sighed quietly with relief.

“Jack?” Ianto called out he crossed the office. “Are you awake? Sorry I had to help Owen… Jack!”

Jack assumed the last exclamation was at the sight of him tangled on the floor. As he heard the metal twang of the ladder, he could sense Ianto coming closer but still could help but flinch at the sudden touch on his shoulder.

“Jack? What happened? Are you okay?”

“Ianto?” Jack whispered, slightly muffled from where he was facing the floor. He still had no idea what had happened to him but couldn’t form the words to ask.

“Yes Sir. Come on, let’s get you up.” Moving the chair out the way, he lifted Jack back to sit on the bed. He could tell something was up by the way Jack was keeping his head down, refusing to look at him, but he knew he couldn’t push. Jack never revealed information he didn’t want to.

“What happened?” Jack asked quietly as if he was unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

“What can you remember?”

“The Nixik…” Jack still hadn’t looked up from the floor as Ianto began a quick explanation of the morning.

“You were stabbed by the Nixik, we thought you were dead at first but you were only unconscious. Owen patched you up until you started healing, but you’ve been out for nearly 5 hours and I was getting worried. Anyway, I thought you’d appreciate waking up in your own bed rather than on Owen’s autopsy table.

“Thanks” Jack grinned, his eyes flickering up for a brief second before returning to their original position, the smile falling from his face.

Deciding enough was enough, he knelt down in front of lover, placing a hand on his cheek. His skin felt slightly warm under his touch, which added to his concern. Jack was not one to get sick. “Jack? Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing”

“Jack.” Ianto said firmly. “I know you. Why won’t you look at me?”

Jack muttered something under his breath and this time all Ianto could understand was the word “black”. He tensed, wondering where this was leading to, as he asked Jack to repeat himself.

“It’s all black. I can’t see” Ianto moved his hand to tilt Jack’s upwards to face his, Jack’s statement confirmed as he finally saw how Jack’s usually bright blue eyes were unfocused and hazy. “I can’t see, Yan.” Jack repeated and Ianto saw whatever self-control the captain been holding onto fade away into panic as he sank into his embrace.

“Let’s have Owen take a look at you okay?”

“No. I’m -”

“Jack you’re blind and I’m pretty certain you’ve developed a fever.” Ianto interrupted. “Come on, if you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me.”

“Fine” Jack replied dejectedly, after a moment’s consideration. Ianto could be surprisingly stubborn at some times.

Jack allowed Ianto to pull him up from the bed and direct him up the ladder, though once they were in his office, Jack pulled away from his hold.

“I can walk.” Jack snapped, more sharply than he intended. Jack obviously didn’t see the Ianto tense at the tone, but he did however hear the icy sarcasm in his reply.

“Of course, sire”

He allowed Jack walk independently, keeping as close as he could without touching. He couldn’t read Jack expressions anymore, the mask he’d had years to practice slipping back onto his face. To be honest, he could fairly say that Jack did a decent job of navigating the steps down from his office and the walkways towards the autopsy bay. The only incident in fact was only a few metres from the bay, when Jack’s leg caught on a misplaced wire, sending him crashing into a workstation, objects clattering onto the floor.

Ianto silently helped protesting Jack to his feet but the commotion had brought Owen up the stairway.

“What the hell is...?” He paused noticing Jack who was currently pushing Ianto’s hand off him again. “Jack, finally awake are we?”

“Obviously” Jack stated sarcastically, Ianto watching as he tried to look in Owen’s direction, but ending up a couple inches to the right.

“Owen. You think you can take another look at Jack, he has a fever and….”

“and what?” Owen questioned as Ianto trailed off, not noticing how Jack wasn’t looking directly at him.

“I can’t see.” Jack finished, more confidently than he felt.

“What? Are you playing with me?” Owen laughed but the other’s faces remained stoic and the grin dropped with realisation. “What, are you serious?”

“Afraid so.” Ianto replied, with a hint of annoyance that Owen could not have missed cause he quickly changed his tone to professional.

“Come on down, let me look at you.”

Jack hesitated but then slowly followed Owen down into his area after a slight shove forward from Ianto. Perching on the centre table, he stayed silent as Owen checked his eyes and vitals. 

“Temps 38.5oC but other vitals are fine. No physical trauma to the head or eyes but I didn’t expect any, we would have spotted it earlier plus the fever suggests something internal. I’ll run some blood, shouldn’t take long.”

Only after Owen drew some blood and turned away to play with his machines, did Jack look up at where he presumed Ianto was standing. He might not be able to see, but the smell of coffee on his right was obvious. He tensed but didn’t object when Ianto placed his hand reassuringly on his shoulder, but still no one spoke for five mins until Owen broke the silence. Jack instantly shrugged off Ianto’s hand from his shoulder, not being able to see Ianto frown at the action.

“I was right, there’s an unidentifiable toxin in your blood. It seems to include some paralytic agent along with a mix of other alien chemicals. It seems to be the reason for your lack of eyesight as some elements have probably damaged some of your nerves. Any other pain?

“Just some aches” Jack replied clearly underplaying their severity. “Is it permanent?” He continued, not sure whether he actually wanted to know the answer.

“Can’t tell mate, sorry. I wouldn’t be able to tell in a usual situation, and with your healing who knows what will happen. The fact the paralysis has worn off might suggest your body’s just taking it’s time repairing itself. Might be because I can’t identify anything life-threatening which often makes you heal faster, but on the other hand it could mean that’s healed but the eyes won’t. I know it’s probably not what you want to hear but I think best we just have to wait and get a clearer picture once the toxin has left your bloodstream.”

“What should we do in the meantime?” Ianto enquired. “Does he need to stay here? Just, when the others arrive, it might be a bit hectic.”

“No, nothing more I can do at the moment I’m afraid. Just give him some painkillers and make him get some rest-”

“Hey I’m blind not incompetent. I can still hear you and I can still work.” Jack cut in.

“Sorry but no you can’t. I know that fever’s making you feel more crappy than you’re letting on, but if anything it will help pass the time.”

“I’ll take him to my flat” Ianto’s one making it clear to Jack that it was not a suggestion. “

“Sure” Owen said. “Make sure you get some rest too. I don’t need two patients at once.”

Jack didn’t hear a reply but assumed Ianto had nodded as nothing more was said. He heard footsteps up the staircase and sliding off the table, Jack followed the sounds, moving slowly back up to the main floor of the Hub. He was surprised when Ianto passed him his mended greatcoat - not realising his lover had slipped away to his office - when the alarms shrieked, and two extra sets of footsteps signified Gwen and Tosh’s entrance into the Hub.

“What’s going on, did something happen? Why didn’t you call us? We could have helped.” Gwen probed when she spotted the others in the Hub. It wasn’t usual for Jack and Ianto to be here before them, but Owen was never this early by choice.

Ianto was about to answer when Jack spoke up, avoiding eye contact under the pretence of ‘looking’ at his wrist strap. His voice was so familiar and commanding, that if Ianto and Owen didn’t know any better, they wouldn’t spot anything was different.

“We had an alert but nothing major. All sorted now. Owen go home. You can finish examining the Nixik later. Gwen, Tosh you’re on cover today. Ianto and I have some things to do.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

The journey from the Hub to the SUV was manageable, but once Ianto pulled up outside what he presumed was his flat, Jack felt out of his depth. He could only vaguely remember the route, not as familiar with the layout of the Hub, but he refused to let Ianto guide him. He could do it himself. He kept behind Ianto to try to hide the way he was walking – well shuffling - one hand on the wall, but he knew Ianto was watching and felt himself getting more and more embarrassed and irritated every time he tripped up a step. Ianto wordlessly helped him up each time, before letting go and continuing forwards.

Ianto sighed in relief as they finally entered his flat. The usual 2-minute journey from his car had taken more than 10 minutes. Cursing again the broken lift, he made a mental note to call his landlord – _again –_ to try and get it fixed.

He knew mentally it was unfair to be annoyed at Jack, which was probably one of the only reasons he’d so far accepted Jack’s desire for independence. It wasn’t Jack fault, but other than the ordered short nap the previous afternoon, he’d been awake for nearly 30 hours and he was physically exhausted, never mind mentally, and Jack persistence was starting to upset him. The way Jack had shrugged away from his touch, felt like a dismissal and as if he was untrusted, and he wondered if he’d done anything wrong.

Taking Jack’s coat and waiting for him to settle on the sofa, he moved into the kitchen to set about fixing something for them to eat so they could go to bed. They hadn’t managed to finish their meal that morning and no matter how tired he was, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep on an empty stomach.

He was finishing making some sandwiches when he the sound of a loud clatter from the hallway near his bedroom drew him out from the kitchen. Jack had walked into a side cabinet and was trying to navigate his way around it and to his bedroom door.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Jack looked up, startled at the voice, head whipping around as he tried to pinpoint the direction of the sound. “Sorry, needed a pee. Though you’re perfectly happy to come watch-”

“Jack stop. You couldn’t have waited?”

“No need, you were busy”

“I wasn’t that busy. You could have called.” Ianto ran his hand though his hair, and grabbed Jack arm to direct him away from the cabinet.

“I don’t need help!” Jack shouted, trying to pull his arm out of Ianto’s grip.

Ianto bit his lip to contain his temper, but failed when Jack swung around, his other arm catching on a photo frame, the glass shattering as it hit the floor.

“That’s it!” Ianto’s tiredness caught up with him and tightening his grip, he used all his strength to pull a startled Jack into his bedroom, and dump him on the bed.

“Why can’t you just stop going around, acting like nothing is different.”

“Because nothing is. I’m still me. I’m not brain damaged.”

“You’re blind Jack! Things are different and the quicker you accept that the better. Yes it’s probably only temporary but where on earth is the harm in asking for help?”

“I can’t rely on help! Never had, never will. It would make me weak.” Jack’s anger was increasing along with Ianto’s. “I’ve looked after myself for nearly two centuries. I can do it now.”

“If you still don’t trust me then tell me. I thought things had changed but if not don’t expect to keep stringing me along.”

Ianto’s anger had dissipated, and he blinked back tears, despite knowing Jack couldn’t see them. He knew he shouldn’t have shouted and he had to leave before things were made worse.

“I’m going to go clean up, sir. Try not to break anything else before I return”

Ianto left the room quickly without waiting for a response, stopping only as glass crunched under his feet. Bending down, he carefully extracted the photo from the remains of the frame. The picture was scratched considerably, obscuring some of the faces of the group but it was the only picture he had left of his friends at Torchwood One, and he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away. All but two in the photo had died that day, and one was him.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack listened as Ianto left the room and felt guilty as he made his way to the bathroom (the bedroom was the one place he could remember). Ianto wasn’t one for raising his voice, so he could tell his anger had been something that had accumulated over a while, and cursed that he wasn’t able see the signs. He hadn’t meant for his frustration to somehow hurt Ianto, but somehow it had and now he thought he wasn’t trusted when he was. To be honest the whole situation was freaking him out. He had to get a handle on this but had never asked for help before and didn’t know how. He had wanted to figure it out himself like he’d done so many times before because if this was permanent-.

He stopped his thoughts there before he could spiral out of control and sitting back on the bed, he could hear signs of Ianto sweeping up the glass outside the door. The guilt returned at how he’d given Ianto more work and wondered what he had broken. Laying down he decided to wait for Ianto to return. He needed to apologise but the urge to join him was repressed by the fear of making things worse.

He must have fallen asleep because he was woken to Ianto quietly getting into bed beside him.

“Ianto?” The man made no acknowledgement so he tried again. “Ianto, I’m-”

“I’m too tired for any more confrontation tonight. I’ll sleep in the spare room if you desire sir, but if not go back to sleep.”

Jack didn’t answer which Ianto must have taken as a no, or either he was too tired to move, because he stayed, rolling over to face the wall. At least that was what it seemed to Jack.

The minutes clicked by silently and Jack eventually noticed the change of breathing that suggested Ianto had fallen asleep, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get back to sleep. His head had started throbbing again, and although he wasn’t sure whether it was due to his ‘condition’ or because of the argument, it reminded him that he hadn’t taken the painkillers that Owen had suggested.

Unfortunately, he remembered that Ianto, ever prepared, kept all his medicine in a fully stocked first aid kit in the kitchen, and he sighed inaudibly as he tried to figure out how he was going to be able to get there without waking Ianto. He didn’t deserve to be disturbed due to something a menial as a headache, Jack knew exactly how long his Welshman had been up.

Trying to wait a bit longer to see if the pain lessened, it only got worse and Jack resigned himself to having to move. Going incredibly slowly, bit by bit, to avoid crashing into furniture, by some miracle Jack managed to make it to the kitchen without an accident. Smiling at how he’d finally found a reason to be happy with Ianto’s almost OCD need for order and tidiness, he felt his way along the wall behind the sink, looking for the kit. He froze when his hand knocked into some mugs, listening carefully to see if the noise had disturbed Ianto, but he continued when he heard no movement, finding the kit and placing it down on the side.

He was relying solely on touch as rummaged through the kitbag, producing a bottle of pill. He wasn’t entirely sure of the contents, but at this point he didn’t really care. ‘ _Well I know it won’t kill me’_ Jack thought as he opened the bottle. It was this train of thought that sparked the idea to drown the whole bottle and be over and done with it. If luck was on his side, he’d wake up and things could go back to normal.

He was surprised he hadn’t thought of it earlier, and the more he considered the option, the more adamant he was. It wasn’t his first choice of death, but despite having his Webley with his coat, a gunshot would no doubt wake Ianto. He had to solve this before it ruined his newly mended relationship with Ianto, if it hadn’t already.

Tears threatened escape as he quickly poured the pills into his hand and lifted them to his mouth.

His hand was grabbed out of nowhere and he dropped the pills in shock. He’d be so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t been aware of another presence in the room.

“I was upset and angry. It didn’t mean you had to go try killing yourself sir”

“Wouldn’t be the first time. This isn’t fair on you. Look at what’s happened”

Ianto noted the first half of the sentence, but chose to ignore it, focusing on the second. Jack couldn’t see but he was trembling. Waking up to find the bed empty had panicked him, thinking that Jack had left due to their argument, but finding him in the kitchen about to overdose was worse. He couldn’t help but feel it was his fault, and would have never forgiven himself if he’d been just a few seconds later and discovered Jack had committed _suicide_ because of him – no matter how temporary.

“I just want to know why you are so opposed to me helping”

“It’s not you, Yan” Jack replied softly “Trust me on that. I just need to do this myself. People won’t always be around to help”

“I’m here now, and you were pushing me away and now you’ve also barely given yourself a chance to see if you heal before trying to take the short cut out. There’s not even a certainty it would fix things. Yes, you might gain your sight back, but did you stop and think it might only kill all your hope along with you and confirm it’s permanent-”.

“I’m immortal Ianto.” Jack cut in, his voice rising again, but not in anger. “I’ve lived so many lives, lost so many and it hasn’t even been 200 years. I can – _will -_ live that amount 15 times over and it won’t even make a dent. Hell, I still wouldn’t be born. I don’t know how I’ll manage but one things for sure I’ll have to because I have no choice and I’d come to accept that – but now….”

Jack paused to swallow his emotions before continuing, but Ianto could see that his eyes were red. He wanted to speak up but his mind was blank.

“…Now I refuse to even think about what it would be like without seeing. To live for that long in the darkness. The one positive of a life like mine is seeing everyone else living and all the wonders they create but without that then there’s not much point.”

Jack collapsed forward into Ianto, crying softly as he was overwhelmed with emotions. Ianto kept a silent hold on Jack as the tears started to subside and he whispered. “I’m cursed to be alone. I can’t be get by with always needing help”

“With this - at first - you can.” Ianto murmured, finally regaining his voice. “I don’t know your past but this is different than anything else you have gone through and if by some fate it doesn’t heal, which I highly doubt, you will learn to be independent. No one however should ever be expected to learn this themselves – even you.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack’s sight healed gradually but it still took nearly four days to fully return.

While Ianto had allowed him to walk unassisted, he tried to accept his help if he needed, or was unfamiliar with the area. He’d been banned from handling anything dangerous (or breakable) and also from trying anything unattended, but other than that, he had noticed that Ianto hadn’t tried to force any help on him.

They’d stayed in the flat the first two days, but eventually cabin fever and an overload of archiving for Ianto to do, meant that they had to return to the Hub. His sight, at this point, was not black, but just blurry, but he’d been surprised to find he actually kept his eyes closed to avoid headaches from straining.

Nothing more had been said about the argument the first morning, but despite having the feeling that Ianto had forgiven him, he still felt guilty.

Ianto entered the tourist office a week later to find a square envelope on the front counter and he recognised Jack's messy scrawl on the front.

‘I have my sources. Sorry. Jack’

Curious, he opened the envelope.

Inside was one photograph, newly printed and undamaged.

**Notes: Whoa that took forever. Bit of a long one but I kept adding more. At one point I wasn’t sure who was in the wrong the most – Jack or Ianto. Or both? Feel free to comment with your opinion. The next one will probably be shorter. Next up: R is for Railing.**


	3. R is for Railing

**T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D**

**Summary:** Torchwood Mnemonic. A selection of one-shots based on Jack and Ianto whump. Aiming for one for each letter of ‘Torchwood.’ (Each can be read separately) ENJOY!

 **Chapter Summary:** Ianto has an accident on the bay. Brought on by that scene in Fragments (the coffee scene) where the water is only protected by those chain railings.

 **Words:** 2590 words

 **Disclaimer:** Unfortunately Torchwood and all its characters belong to RTD. Also all medical mistakes are mine. I did do some research, but there still might be some.

 **Warning:** Don’t get your hopes up too early

 **Chapter Three** : R is for Railing

Ianto shivered as he left the archives. The evening was unusually frosty and windy for the current time of year, the temperature a miserable -3oC. He and Jack suspected that the Rift was again being the usual culprit. Wasn’t Cardiff wasn’t bad enough without other weather slipping through time and space.

He’d spent the day down the archives, the usual cold, damp depths of the Hub, actually a warm blessing in contrast to the weather outside. In fact, the only reason he’d drifted up to the main level that day was to satisfied the team’s need for coffee. While the archives shielded him from the cold, it also stopped him from being able to hear the moans and complaints from the others at the cold. Despite the Hub being around for over a century, it seemed no-one had thought to install some reliable central heating.

Unfortunately, a wild storm had been predicted for overnight and he had to prepare all the Hub’s entrances. He had sandbags ready from the last storm, not wanting a repeat of a flooded tourist office that had taken a week to clean.

Stacking the sandbags against the wooden slates of the deck, he heard the door open and the team exit the tourist office, laughing as they crossed up towards the Plass, but Jack stopped when he spotted Ianto.

“Ianto!” Jack exclaimed, grinning. “There you are. We’re going for drinks, care to join us?”

“Maybe later Sir, I have to finish here, and then around the water tower. Unless you want to be saving the world while wading through water the next few days?”

“No points for style.” Jack joked, “It’s freezing out here. We could come back to finish later where I’d be happy to warm you up after.”

Registering the innuendo, Ianto smiled and relented. “Fine”.

The next few second played out in slow motion for Jack, as Ianto stood up on the deck. His left foot slipped on a patch of ice and he fell backwards onto the chain railings that ran the length of the bay.

Jack tried to grab his arm, but the chain, brittle from the cold, snapped and he watched in horror as Ianto fell head first into the water, the chain following as both disappeared beneath the surface.

“IANTO!” 

Jack’s terrified shout caught the attention of the others, sprinting back to find Jack white-faced at the edge of water, struggling in his haste to remove his greatcoat. It wasn’t hard to discern what had happened from the broken railing, and Owen swore silently as he managed to grab Jack arm to prevent him from diving in.

“Jack stop!”

“He’s in there, I can’t just leave him.”

“Not like this. That water freezing, we’ll just end up having to save you too.”

“I have to do something!”

“Jack. I’ll go, I’m dead already.” He kept a palm on Jack’s chest until he nodded, knowing they would just waste time by arguing.

Owen took of his jacket as he turned to the girls, who were waiting nervously, staring in shock at the water. “Gwen, Tosh, go get the medical bay ready. Blankets and towels, everything you can find”

“What-”

“Just do it!”

Not waiting around to see if they had followed his order, he executed a perfect dive into the bay, happy for the first time that he was dead as the shock he was expecting from of the icy water didn’t faze him. The water was dark and murky, but it didn’t take long to find Ianto. The man was surprisingly still conscious, the chain that Owen recognised from the railing snagged tightly round both his suit leg and some debris. He was struggling weakly against the restraint, but was quickly losing consciousness as his body was starved of oxygen and the cold seeped into his bones.

Owen swum, hand over hand, down Ianto’s leg, cursing silently that he couldn’t share any of his inexistent breath with tea-boy, even just to give him some more time, as he tried to get his leg free. Tugging against the chain, it wouldn’t give and aware of wasting time, he reluctantly swum back to the surface.

Jack was pacing back and forth on the deck impatiently as he watched for movement. He felt a spark of hope as he saw Owen breach the surface, but it died again when he registered he was alone. There was still no sign of Ianto.

“Owen? What-”

“Your Knife” Owen commanded, one hand reaching out, repeating himself when he saw Jack’s confused look. “He’s snagged, I need your knife!”

Jack shook himself mentally, forcing himself to focus as he quickly kneeled down, passing his knife to the doctor who vanished back underwater without another word.

The next minute that passed seemed like hours and Jack could swear he didn’t breathe until the water rippled again and Owen surfaced with Ianto. He was slumped motionlessly in Owen’s arms as he passed him to Jack.

Pulling himself out the water, Owen scrambled over to where Jack had laid Ianto flat on his back, frantically performing chest compressions on the still form.

“Ianto, come on. Wake up! Please”

Kneeling behind Ianto’s head, Owen pulled his fob torch from his pocket, prising open his each of his eyelid. He sighed in relief as the pupils were still reactive, a positive sign that they were not too late, but this was no time to break. He was still ice - cold, with no noticeable shivering or vitals. If Ianto died here, Jack would never be the same.

Jack didn’t concentrate on anything around him as he continued CPR, thoughts spiralling in a panic as he stared at the lifeless form below him. Ianto’s face was pale, with a blue tint. He ignoring Owen’s hand on his shoulder, not wanting to think what it meant. Stopping would mean giving up on Ianto, and that was not an option, not today.

“No. I can get him back. I have to try.”

Owen kicked himself as he realised what Jack was thinking, and pulling Jack back, he quickly tried to reassure him.

“Jack. He’s hypothermic, that makes it harder to detect vitals. We need to get him in the Hub. Nothing going to work unless we get him warmed up. Trust me, I’m not letting teaboy die today.”

He hoped silently that he hadn’t just made a promise he couldn’t keep, as he awkwardly picked Ianto up, a dead weight in his arms as Jack stepped in to carry him down into the Hub.

The medical bay was thankfully ready as they charged in, blankets covering the cool metal of the table. Gwen and Tosh gasped in horror as they saw the state of Ianto, as Jack placed him gently on the table.

“Get him out of those wet clothes.” Owen ordered as he collected multiple equipment, the girls quietly leaving the room to give Ianto some dignity.

Jack stripped Ianto clothes with practised ease as Owen ran over, attaching various leads to Ianto bare chest. Their spirits were lifted slightly as a slow beeping signified the presence of a weak pulse. Ianto still wasn’t breathing however and Owen grabbed a BMV from kit, ripping off the plastic wrapping and passing it to Jack.

“Slow, even breaths.”

Nodding, Jack took his position by Ianto’s head, squeezing the bag intermittently, as Owen conducted more tests.

“Owen? Is he going to be okay?”

“He’s alive, but he’s not out the woods yet. His temperature’s 31.5oC, too low, but in some way the cold saved him from drowning. We can warm him up slowly to prevent cardiac arrest, but I can’t confirm anything until he wake ups. I’ve got some saline warming, but in the meantime, I’m sure neither of you will complain to the use of body heat.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

An hour later, Jack was lying beside Ianto on the autopsy table, swamped in blankets with arms wrapped round the now shivering Welshman. He had suggested that his bunk or the sofa would be more comfortable but Owen hadn’t wanted to risk moving him too much until he was more stable. The BMV had been replaced with an oxygen mask once Ianto had begun breathing for himself again (though weakly) and although he’d warmed up, his temperature was still too low for comfort.

Jack felt a subtle movement, and jumped up catching Owen’s attention from where he’d been changing the IVs.

“I think he’s waking up.” Jack grinned excitedly, leaning to hover over Ianto. “Ianto can you hear me. I want to see those beautiful blue eyes.”

Ianto eyelids fluttered open and glanced around with a confused gaze, his breaths short and strained. He reached up, shakily, managing to dislodge the mask as if it was suffocating him, trying to roll over into a coughing fit as Jack and Owen struggled to hold him still.

“Ianto calm down, your safe”

There was no response other than strangled gasps in-between bouts of coughing.

“Help me sit him up” Owen ordered as he tried to replace the oxygen mask back onto Ianto face.

Despite being vertical, Ianto continued struggling for breath, Jack mirroring the panicked eyes that stared into his, as his lover failed to get air into his lungs, the heart monitor’s beeps increasing in frequency.

“Shit” Owen swore, releasing his hold on Ianto and laying him back down and shoving the abandoned BMV back Jack, who resumed squeezing slowly, ignoring the tears that were creeping out the corner of his eyes.

“Owen?” Jack’s voice husky as he questioned, not sure he wanted to know what was happening.

“He’s not getting any oxygen. It’s putting strain on his heart. I have to intubate.”

Owen franticly rushed around, pulling a machine that Jack hadn’t seen before out of a cupboard before injecting a sedative and slowly inserting a tube down Ianto’s throat. Linking the machine up, he watched Ianto’s vitals waiting until he finally breathed a sigh of relief as the lines and beeping on the heart monitor settled down.

Jack clenched Ianto’s hand tightly in his, eyes portraying his frightened emotions as Owen didn’t stop, taking blood and running the Bekaran scanner over Ianto’s prone body. The girls, were also hovering on the balcony overlooking the medical bay, drawn from their desks by the sound of the heart monitor.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked eventually, regaining his voice as Owen begun to slow down.

“He’s got pulmonary edema-”

“English?” Jack interrupted, more harshly than intended.

“Sorry. He’s got water in his lung, making it harder to breath.”

“Will he be okay?” Tosh piped up from above, before Jack could have a chance.

“He’s stable for now. I can drain some of the fluid, but the rest he needs to cough up himself, which he can’t do on the vent. The longer he’s on it the harder it will be to wean him off, and there’s a risk of develop pneumonia. However, I’m reluctant to take him off it too early, before he’s had time to heal and rest. We have to find a balance”

“I can’t lose him, Owen. Not yet. It’s too soon.” Jack whispered, barely loud enough for Owen to hear.

“Try not to worry. Ianto’s made of strong stuff” Owen reassured in a voice unlike the doctor’s usual brash exterior, but it quickly returned, talking louder so the others could hear. “Now out. I need to drain his lungs and I can’t do it with you hovering over my shoulder. I’ll yell when I’m done or if anything changes.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Six hours later, Jack was sitting by Ianto side, where he’d been since Owen had finished his procedure, after sending the others home as it was late. Owen had declined, taking comfort on the sofa in case he was needed, but he’s explained he was cautiously optimistic that he could wean Ianto off the vent in the morning.

Ianto was cold but no longer hypothermic thankfully, and Owen had replaced the warm IVs with sedatives and a broad spectrum of antibiotics to fight off pneumonia or any infection he could have picked up from the bay waters. Jack hadn’t been able to get any sleep, grateful that he didn’t need any, as couldn’t bring himself to leave Ianto’s side. His lover was still and pale, lying flat on his back, unusual for Jack, who knew that Ianto was never still when he was asleep, sleeping on his side in a foetal position. It felt unnatural, doing nothing to help Jack relax, and he wouldn’t until Ianto woke up.

Owen woke just before dawn, stumbling down the steps of the bay, yawning. “Any changes?”

Jack shook his head silently, not moving from Ianto’s side as the doctor bustled around checking machines. “Right then, let’s try taking this off him, so he can make me some coffee.”

“Really?”

“Well, maybe not quite yet. Also yes, I know I can’t drink, but a man can dream. I’ve stopped the sedative and changed the setting to manual. It means it’ll assist breathing rather than forcing it. The sedative should take half an hour to wear off so once he wakes up, call me and I’ll take the tube out. I’m need to change.”

Owen hesitated as he went to leave to bay, but Jack waved him on. “It’s fine – go”

Stubborn as Ianto was, it was another hour before Jack felt a hand clench in his, and Ianto’s eyes burst open, panicking as he felt the tube down his throat.

“OWEN” Jack called behind him, before turning his attention back. “Ianto, calm down, we’ll take it out but you have to breath.”

Ianto eyes met his and settled down slightly, but it was obvious he was still struggling to breath with the tube. Owen rushed into the bay and into their eye-line. “Ianto mate, good to have you back. I’m going to take this out, okay? On three, cough as hard as possible. Ready?”

Jack watched nervously as Owen expertly removed the tube, helping Ianto roll over as he continued to cough. He knew it was a good sign, but was relieved when eventually Ianto settled back down onto his back, Owen fixing a nasal cannula onto his face.

“Owen?”

“He’ll be okay, but plenty of rest.” He ordered, before turning to Ianto. “Ianto, how you feeling?”

“’m cold”

Jack grinned at hearing the welsh vowels he hadn’t heard in so long. “I bet. Think you can make it down to the bunker? Be a bit warmer down there.”

Ianto nodded mutely, allowing Jack to assist him up into the office and down the ladder, with slight difficulty as they were hindered by the heavy oxygen tank.

“What happened” Ianto muttered quietly as he laid down, happy to be back under some blankets. “Hope I didn’t lose any dignity”.

Jack was silent and Ianto looked confused at the lack of response. “You okay?”

“Me? Shouldn’t I be asking that?”

“Jack” Ianto said, as firmly as he could with his throat still sore from the ventilator.

“Yeah. I’m okay. Sort of”

“Me too, but I’m still here, Jack. It wasn’t my intention to scare you.”

“I know. Doesn’t mean I wasn’t. One minute longer in the water, you might not have made it, you almost didn’t as it was.”

“Don’t focus on what ifs, okay. Come here.” Ianto gestured to the bed beside, shifting back to allow enough space, as Jack laid down nestling together, Ianto whispering quietly in his ear. “I’m here. Don’t waste the time we have by worrying”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you. Slightly shorter, but hopefully still good. Please review. Jack again next with C is for Crash!


	4. C is for Crash

**T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D**

**Chapter Summary:** Set Season 1 between TKKS and OOT. Jack and Ianto are involved in a car incident which causes Ianto to discover some secrets in the worse possible way.

 **Words:** 2048

 **Disclaimer:** Unfortunately Torchwood and all its characters belong to RTD.

 **Warning:** Temporary character death (Jack of course)

 **Chapter Four** : C is for Crash

“So where we going, sir?” Ianto asked, staring out the SUV window as he watched field after field whiz by, and he wondered if they were still in Cardiff.

“An acquaintance of mine called. Has a nest or something for me to look at and he’s convinced it’s alien. They’re ...err… they… Right… I hope you don’t mind spiders.”

Ianto kept his expression stoic as he joked. “I’d better stock up on flies then”

Jack laughed. “You can certainly try. Somehow, I don’t think they’ll fancy them. Bit small for the size of what I think they could be. Unless of course they are just normal spiders, but in that case we’re leaving them. He’s not most reliable, bit of a conspiracy theorist, but he can be useful and I have to check it out.”

“Why me?” Ianto asked, uncertain. He wasn’t often brought on field missions.

“Why not? Or are you annoyed it interrupted our enjoyable evening”

Ianto was silent at Jack’s cheeky comment. It had been weeks since he’d prepositioned Jack over Suzie’s corpse in the morgue – not that the others would believe it was started by him – but he still wasn’t sure what _it_ was. He was confused about how he was feeling to be honest, especially after Lis- the cyberwoman. He knew Jack wasn’t one for ‘relationships’ and probably didn’t feel the same way, but it didn’t matter. Jack had been there for him recently, especially after the Beacons and he was feeling something for Jack, he just couldn’t define it.

Bright headlights distracted him as they shined through the window, blinding him. “Jack” “Ianto” was heard simultaneously, as glass shattered and the car was sent spinning. Tensing at the impact, Ianto held himself tight, feeling the world go black as his head smacked into the dashboard.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto awoke slowly, body throbbing as he blinked away something that trickled into his eye. Reaching up, he pressed a hand against his forehead, wincing when it came back red. Groaning at the movement, he moved his head to gain his bearings. He was lying flat on a broken window of the SUV that had been flipped onto its side.

“Jack?” Turning his head up, the driver’s side seat was empty and he sat up panicking and struggling against the snapped, tangled seatbelt. “Jack!”

His entire body was screaming with pain, but he ignored it, pulling himself up and out the front windshield. It was pitch black outside, with no sign of the second vehicle he noticed with a flash of anger. He suppressed it quickly as, although his vision was hazy from the blood dripping into his eyes, it didn’t take long to spot Jack, lying slumped a few metres away, as if he’d been thrown from the car.

Ianto collapsed at his captain’s side, rolling him over and lifting the prone form into his arms. Surprisingly, he was still alive but each breath was shallow and rattled, his face stretched with pain as Ianto searched for the cause. Pulling aside the flaps of the greatcoat, he was alarmed as a large shard of glass fell onto the grass from where it had been embedded in Jack chest, blood following as it spilled out from the wound.

“Jack!” Ianto’s mind blanked for a few precious seconds, but training and willpower dominated, as he pulled out his phone, cursing but not surprised at the lack of signal. Striping off and balling up his shirt, he pressed it hard on the wound, recoiling as a loud scream penetrated the air, the pain seeming to pull Jack back to awareness. The noise would have been horrifying from anyone, but from Jack it felt 10 times worse, almost unnatural from the usually strong and brash captain.

“Jack…” Ianto wasn’t sure there was anything he could say that would be reassuring, and tried to get him to focus on his face. “Jack, hey. Look at me okay. You’ll be fine. Stay awake.”

“Ianto?” Jack rasped, their eyes meeting as he reached up, placing a shaking hand on Ianto’s temple. “You’re bleeding”

He would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so serious. “Me? You’re worried about me?” Jack’s eyes still stared questioningly and Ianto relented. “I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”

“I don’t feel so good.” Jack mumbled, crying out in sheer agony as he coughed, droplets of blood escaping from his lips, the sight tearing a hole through Ianto’s own chest.

“I know. I know. But I need you to stay with me okay.” Ianto ordered, tone scared. He pressed harder on the wound, prompting another cry of pain, albeit quieter as Jack barely clung to consciousness. “I’m sorry. I have to.”

“Stop. Hurts.” Jack whispered hoarsely, trying to struggle against Ianto’s hold. “Leave it. It’s okay”

“Jack. No. I’m not giving up. You’re strong. Hold on…please. I can’t lose you too…” He wasn’t trying to hide his tears as he swallowed a lump in his throat, worried that Jack might be about to join the list of those he’d lost. His parents. Friends in London. Lisa.

“Never.” Jack whispered, his face sickly white. “It’ll be alright. I promise.” He gave a weak smile as his head lolled backwards into the crook of Ianto’s arm. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out.”

Ianto was confused but watched as Jack’s breathing diminished to nothing, the light diming from his startling blue eyes, his arm falling limply back to the ground from where it’d still been resting against Ianto’s cheek.

“Jack! No! Stay awake. Jack!” Ianto shook him gently as he spoke, trying to rouse him. “You promised. You’re better than this. Jack! Come on! Wake up! Please…Wake up…”

Jack’s eyes remained sightless as his pleas tailed off and defeated, Ianto ran his palm over them, closing them. He knew it was too late. Jack had bled out. They were stranded in the middle of nowhere, hours from any medical attention. A sob broke out as he gazed down at the empty features on Jack’s face.

He wanted to yell at the unfairness. He seen Jack recover from injuries in minutes, ones that should have hindered him for weeks, but this… death was too final. He’d always expected to die at Torchwood, even as the admin. Hell he’d dodged a bullet multiple times already, but he never thought he’d outlive the captain.

Leaning down, he placed one last light, chaste kiss to Jack’s lips, the skin cold under his, as he cradled Jack’s corpse to his chest. He buried his nose into Jack’s hair, memorising the scent, as his grief spiked, clawing out from his chest.

Eventually, the tears ebbed from exhaustion, leaving Ianto numb and detached as he reluctantly detangled himself from Jack’s body. He placed him down gingerly with respect, away from broken glass, but still refused to let go completely. He had things he needed to do, but couldn’t bring himself to leave. The SUV was trashed. He had to find signal, call the others and tell them that Jack was -.

They’d come and he’d be forgotten, pushed back into the role of ‘tea-boy’. They might even blame him. He didn’t have the trust he used to have. His own grief would be overlooked, shoved behind the others.

He’d dealt with the dead before. The clean-up that bodies involved. It was part of his job. But this was different. This was Jack. The Captain who was always so very alive. How could Torchwood continue? How could _he_ continue?

A loud gasp came from Jack’s body as he convulsed back to life, Ianto stared down in disbelief as colour came rushing back to Jack’s pale skin as he tried to get his breathing under control.

“Jack?” Ianto was barely audible from where he was kneeling, his arms automatically wrapping back round Jack’s body. His chest that had previously held a gaping wound was now unblemished and Ianto couldn’t quite focus as reality fought against the impossible in his brain.

“-anto.” Jack’s eyes finding Ianto’s bewildered stare as he whispered.

“How?” Ianto asked. Jack’s voice had stolen his attention back from where it had wandered. “You’re alive. God you’re alive.”

“Killer headache.” Jack grimaced, holding his head as he sat up, supported by Ianto. “Come here.” He continued, noting Ianto startled and pale look, bringing the younger man head down lower, and into a passionate kiss, which was returned with equal eagerness after a few seconds. “I told you I’d be alright.” He added after they finally parted.

“You died…” Ianto stated, his voice almost monotone. Jack said nothing to deny him and suddenly he realised the truth. “…and it’s not the first time – is it?” His mind was flashing back to the damaged clothes he’d mended, the bloodstains he’s been tasked to remove, even the comments Suzie has made when she’d returned.

Jack looked down and closed his eyes as if mentally preparing himself for a conversation he hated, before releasing a sigh. “You’re right. I can’t die. Or to better explain it, I don’t stay dead. No matter how many times – I always come back.”

“How?” Ianto repeated, too confused to think of anything else to say.

“Don’t know. I wasn’t always like this. Something happened a while back. I was mortal, died, but then something brought me back. Since then, nothing seems to kill me. Whatever it is must be keeping me around for a reason. I hope to find answers one day.”

Ianto nodded mutely, still trying to process the events of the last half hour, not believing that only a few minutes ago, Jack was lying cold and still in his arms.

“Sit down.” Jack commanded, but it lacked it’s usual strength. Ianto complied, moving from his knees, to sit beside Jack, both leaning against one another. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. It’s not something that I’m partial to talking about. No-one would believe me, if you get my gist.”

“I understand” Ianto answered softly as he thought about the possible ways that conversation might have gone, and realised he was right - no one would ever believe it without seeing it with their own eyes. “Does anyone else know?”

“A few.” Jack answered guardedly. “It tends to either scare most people away or cause an interest” Jack commented matter-of-factly but Ianto could hear the disheartened and pained undertone. He didn’t think he’d ever understand how humans always seemed to reject or hurt those that were different. “Gwen knows. She saw Suzie shoot me.” Jack added as if he felt compelled to let Ianto know.

“It’s your secret. I won’t tell anyone.” Ianto told Jack reassuringly. “I think I understand some references in the archives now. I always thought Captain Harkness was a code name.” He declared, successfully trying to ease some of Jack’s unease as the latter grinned.

“Nope, only one Captain Jack in Torchwood. And I think anyone would agree it’s more than enough. Though would you agree it would be interesting to-”

“I think that still qualifies as harassment Sir.” Ianto said, interrupting the innuendo before it conjured an image he would never be able to forget.

They stayed sitting for a while, silent as they collected their thoughts but they eventually stood up, Ianto steadying Jack as he wavered on his feet. He was obviously still quite weak, and he wondered how long it took him to recover from dying, especially as he’d probably suffered through it alone.

“It’s late, we should go. Owen needs to check out your head.” Jack observed as he saw him staring at the state of the SUV, and he knew the older man was probably wondering how (but thankful) Ianto wasn’t more hurt. He’s honestly forgotten he was injured himself, and now it’d been mentioned, and the adrenaline was wearing off, he realised he had a headache to match Jack’s.

“There’s no signal” He informed. “We’ll have to walk to find some. However, I have an inkling that Owen’s going to have a field day. He’s always predicting you’re going to crash.”

“Hey! This one was not my fault. I’d bet anything that driver was drunk.” Jack complained, and while Ianto agreed, he didn’t think it would make much of a difference.

“Somehow. I doubt he’ll care.”

**Notes: Please review! I loved writing this one. Next up is Ianto again with H is for Hub (I think), but I am still struggling with plot for it so might be a few days. Thank you for reading.**


	5. H is for Hub

**T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D**

**Chapter Summary:** The Hub isn’t the safest place to work, especially when you own a pet dinosaur – sorry _pterosaur._ :) Set season 2.

 **Words:** 2458

 **Disclaimer:** Unfortunately Torchwood and all its characters belong to RTD.

 **Warning:** I think this has more angst and an attempt at humour, rather than drastic hurt/comfort. Hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Five** : H is for Hub

Jack watched from out his office window as Ianto pottered around the Hub, completing his nightly tasks. He could tell something was bothering the Welshman as the man silently cleared away the remains of lunch – pizza again, they should really try and start eating healthier food – but Jack could figure out what it could be.

Nothing had happened recently, as far as he knew, that could have upset his lover, and they had been together nearly 24/7. He even checked his phone records – okay it might have been a bit too far – but the idea hadn’t borne any fruit anyhow. Ianto hadn’t had any calls other than from Torchwood all week. It hadn’t even been a busy week. Weevils and artefacts had taken the majority of the time, along with the mounds of paperwork and some team games, so he was certain it couldn’t be anything Torchwood related.

Doubt pushed to the edge of his mind and he hoped he hadn’t done anything wrong. He couldn’t believe that was the case though, as Ianto had been perfectly civil with him, and had even accepted tonight’s date offer.

He could breach the subject tonight then, hopefully. He was probably overthinking it anyway, Ianto could fixate on the smallest things somethings so, while he wouldn’t say it was nothing, it could be something he could easily fix.

At any rate, it would have to wait for the date later as he was already nearly late from a meeting with Detective Henderson.

Pulling on his coat, he came down the stairs calling out to Ianto.

“I’m going to go see what Detective ‘Big hands’ has got to complain about this time. Want to come, it would certainly make thing go smoother and more quickly? The rubbish can wait and we can go straight to dinner after.”

“I’m afraid I still have to feed the residents sir.” Ianto replied, his tone matter of fact. “I’ll walk and meet you at the restaurant after. I need some fresh air.”

This only increased Jacks concern but he left it for now. “Okay, only if you’re sure.”

At Ianto’s nod, Jack left, pausing to look back over his shoulder as he went through the cog door, but Ianto had already left in the direction of the vaults.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto was worried. He wasn’t entirely sure why, it was stupid, but there was some kind of feeling in his gut. He hadn’t seen Myfanwy for days, maybe even over a week and that was unusual. Thinking back now that he had noticed, she’d been quiet for nearly month.

It wasn’t strange for her to leave the Hub when she could, now that Jack had trained her to return upon a signal on his wristband. She wasn’t a threat to anyone, except the sheep population, and she was smart enough not to get seen to closely or caught.

She’d definitely been out her nest briefly last week, but her exit had been closed since. They couldn’t let her out all the time – someone would eventually notice. He hadn’t heard or seen her leave her nest though, not even joining in with the game of basketball earlier that day. The meals he’d left out for her had been untouched, and while he knew she probably had food stored in her nest and that she could go longer without food, he was troubled and wondered what was wrong. Her favourite BBQ sauce hadn’t even tempted her.

Ianto sighed as he finished dishing food out for the weevils. He was probably being paranoid, but relented, deciding he would go and deliver today’s meal to her nest so he could check on her.

Myfanwy’s nest consisted of a naturally developed hole in the stone at the very top of the Hub. With all the technology they had - invisible lift – he was frustrated by the very long and rusty ladder, which was currently the only way to her. It took forever to climb, but thankfully, they didn’t have to use it very often.

Armed with only a bar of Cadbury’s dark milk chocolate, he fully extended the end of the ladder and resigned himself to the long climb. His legs would certainly complain tomorrow.

Pterosaurs were high territorial so he would have to be careful not to disturb anything but Myfanwy seemed to have made a noticeable liking to him, probably since he’d been the first to find her, so he knew she wouldn’t object her being up in her dwelling.

“Aah!”

He had barely cleared the top of the ladder, when he was bowled over by the flurry of an over excited creature, who was clearly too small to be Myfanwy.

Claws painfully dug into his shirtsleeve, causing his arm to bleed while a sharp beak snapped at his trouser pocket, where he’d stored the chocolate. He was briefly glad he’d left his suit jacket at the base of the ladder. He ruined enough suits.

Being face down on the stone base of the nest, Ianto couldn’t see precisely what was attacking him as he tried to pull away, but as he turned his head to the side, he got a fairly good idea.

Myfanwy was on top of a large egg!

It roughly resembled the size of a rugby ball, which she was perching on protectively, while another lay in cracked pieces to the side. Ianto couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. He had thought Myfanwy was the only pterosaur in Cardiff – probably in the whole world, but somehow she’d managed to get pregnant! Twice!

He was distracted by the Pteranodon who was currently cawing loudly. Regaining some of his senses, he realised she wasn’t cawing at him, but at the creature – _hatchling? –_ who was now scrambling off him with a squawk and into his eye-line. The prised chocolate was in its possession, tiny wings flapping uselessly. It vanished back behind it’s mother, attacking the wrapper savagely. It was obviously still very young, only the size of a cat.

Ianto was more stunned rather than seriously injured. He only had a few deep scratches, nips and probably some bruises to add tomorrow. He could check himself out properly later. He pulled himself up and backward, leaning against the wall close to the entrance of the nest. He was still shaking with shock and the adrenaline crash made him weary. He’d wait here for a while and gain his strength; there was no way he’d safely make it down the ladder at the moment.

He must have dozed off as the movement of him being pulled gently awaked him. A beak was gripping his shirt collar and tie, and he was dragged so that he now lay under Myfanwy’s body. Being pregnant had obviously brought out some clear motherly instincts and while it was endearing, he was mildly miffed at being treated like an egg.

The weight on his back didn’t exactly hurt too much, but it restricted his movement. There was no way he was getting out, unless Myf let him. The hatchling snuggled up beside him, surprisingly not scared of the newcomer.

He’d left his phone in his suit jacket, but he could luckily hear it ringing below. It was probably Jack wondering where he was. He was definitely late for their date, and hoped that meant he would be found soon. Not that he particularly wanted to be found. He would never hear the end of it. Hopefully he could get out before he arrived.

“Myf! Myf, could you let up a bit?” Ianto asked, trying to wriggle forward, his voice quiet from being squashed. The pterosaur cocked her head and crooned, but when she didn’t move, he groaned. “Great now I’m talking to a bloody prehistoric bird!”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack sighed as he reached Ianto’s voicemail for the fifth time. He was really beginning to question whether he’d something wrong now. He was sitting at a table by a window in their favourite Italian restaurant, with two places laid out. He’d been there for most of the last half hour already, and the others in the area were starting to subtlety stare (unconvincingly he noticed) at him, probably internally pitying (if they didn’t recognise him) or laughing at (if they did) the man who they saw being stood up.

But Jack knew better. No matter how mad Ianto was or wasn’t at Jack, he’d never just not turn up. It was not in-line with his character – he was too loyal. Something had to be wrong.

Despite not having ordered anything, or drunk anything more than table water, Jack left a considerate tip before leaving. Driving back in the SUV, he wasn’t sure when he’d decided to go towards the Hub rather than Ianto’s flat, but he wasn’t surprised when he arrived at the Plass in under 10 minutes.

Ignoring the alarms as he arrived through the Cog door, he glanced round the Hub to try and spot anything out of place, but the whole area seemed deserted. The place hadn’t been shut down to night mode yet, however, meaning the Welshman was still around somewhere.

“Ianto? You in here?”

Pulling out his phone, he pressed speed dial, but not putting the phone to his ear he instead listened out for the ringing of a phone, moving round the Hub. He hadn’t expected to hear anything yet, at least until he got closer to the vaults or archives, so was surprised to hear the phone resounding loudly close by, and he pinpointed the noise to a suit jacket folded over one of the lower rungs of the ladder to Myfanwy’s aerie.

He allowed himself a small grin as he reached the base of the ladder, but it still didn’t quell his nervousness as he realised there had been no movement or sound from up there since he’d arrived. Surely, he would have heard the cog alarm?

“Ianto? Ianto, are you up there? Ianto!” Jack called upwards, there was a huge gap of silence before he eventually heard a quiet answer.

“Jack!” Ianto’s voice was strained, but also sounded slightly relieved, a feeling Jack matched when he heard the voice.

“You okay up there? What going on?” Jack asked, already over a third of the way up the ladder, only to have to go back down at Ianto next response.

“Just fine. Do you think you could bring one of Owen’s sedatives and some chocolate?”

“Sure…” Jack returned hesitantly, slightly confused, but complying with the request.

Ianto had in fact heard the cog door open, but hadn’t been able to shout loud enough to be heard, well at least till Jack had come closer to the base of the ladder. It was getting hard to breathe with the weight of Myfanwy on his back, but luckily, both the adult and hatchling were now asleep, meaning Jack might have a chance of getting off the ladder without getting knocked over like he had. While he’d be happy to get Jack up here as fast as possible, he knew they would be no chance of getting Myfanwy off him without a sedative. Waiting a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt.

Jack neared the top of the ladder a good five minutes later. While he still couldn’t see over the ledge, it meant they could talk clearer.

“You hurt?”

“Not drastically. My dignity on the other hand…”

Later, Ianto was sure he would be able to quote the exact moment when Jack cleared the top rung and could finally see what the problem was. It was clearly signposted by the huge grin that spread across the older man’s face as he started to laugh, while Ianto glared, embarrassed.

“If you make a single egg joke, you’ll be decaf for a week.” Ianto commented indignantly when Jack opened his mouth to speak.

“I would never… Hang on… let me just...”

He watched from the funny angle on the floor as Jack reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, and displeased, he continued his warning. “And if you take a photo, I’ll increase it to a month!”

“Okay. Okay. Sorry” Jack relented, dropping his phone back in his pocket.

“Now could you please help?” Ianto tried to move slightly, causing him to grimace in pain. Jack’s smile slipped off his face, and back to a serious expression.

“Hey, I thought you said you weren’t hurt” Jack stepped forward with fear, but Ianto waved him away with his free hand.

“I’m not. Just a scratch. She’s… She’s just heavier than she looks.”

Jack could hear that Ianto was wheezing and continued to move forward, only this time he reached over, and quickly injected Myfanwy with a small dose, meaning he could start to try moving without risking her waking up.

“So what happened? What’s the chocolate for?” Jack queried, pulling out a bar from his pocket.

“Myfanwy wasn't touching her meals so I came to check. The chocolate is for the hatchling – she seems to like it”

It was then that Ianto realised that Jack still hadn’t seen the hatching who was curled, almost camouflaged against its mother, on the other side of him.

“What hatchl-? Whoa!” Jack exclaimed, dropping the chocolate in surprise as said pterosaur, awakened by all the noise, jumped fast and straight at his leg. Landing on the floor, it shook itself off before snatching the abandoned bar and scrabbling off.

“That hatchling.” Ianto deadpanned, wincing with discomfort again. “She’ll be distracted for a while.”

“And say, how you know it’s a girl?” Jack asked as he finally managed to lift Myfanwy off him, albeit with some difficultly, enough so that he could slide out, leaning back against the wall – again - to catch his breath. Ianto kept his eyes closed as he spoke, but he could sense Jack kneeling in front of him, checking the wound on his arm.

“I’ve been here for almost an hour, what else was there to do…”

“Fair enough. Don’t suppose you know where she came from.”

“I really didn’t think I’d have to explain -” At Jack’s glare, he changed tact. “Afraid not. But it does mean we have a rogue Pteranodon or similar out somewhere in Cardiff. Probably arrived...at least a month ago, maybe more.”

“I’ll ask Tosh to run some checks in the morning. Owen can also check out the hatchling and egg.” Jack hooked his arms under Ianto’s to pull him to his feet. “Think you can make it down the ladder if I help?”

“Yeah…” Ianto nodded slowly, energy spent. “…and Jack? Sorry about the date.”

“No worries, we can reschedule for tomorrow – rift permitting of course. Right now, I think you need to clean up, and get some sleep. Enough excitement for one evening, don’t you agree.”

**Note: Sorry it took so long. The plot bunnies were hiding. Over half way through though now! Can’t believe it. Next up: W is for Weevil. Please Review. Let me know which stories so far are your favourite, it might help me when writing the next ones. Thanks** **:)**


	6. W is for Weevils

**T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D**

**Chapter Summary:** Set post Exit Wounds (sorry)

 **Words:** 4440

 **Disclaimer:** Unfortunately Torchwood and all its characters belong to RTD.

 **Warning:** Not the usual Weevil attack fic…

 **Chapter Six** : W is for Weevils

**Sorry for the long wait. I was ill at the start of the week, so didn’t get started as fast as I usually do. Instead, as compensation, I made sure to make this chapter longer. Just for you! Hope you enjoy!**

Ianto stirred from his sleep to an incessant buzzing noise. Jack was already awake, sliding out from under the covers, and silencing the alarm on his PDA. Selecting his clothes from where they’d been thrown earlier that night in haste, he started to get dressed.

“What’s going on?” He mumbled, starting to get up and copy Jack’s actions.

“Weevil alert. It’s fine, go back to sleep.”

“Don’t be stupid.” Ianto stated, ignoring Jack as he continued to get up.

“You need to sleep”

Ianto sighed. That much was true at least. Since Tosh and Owen’s deaths the other week, the remaining three members had been run off their feet both with grieving and with trying to keep up with the unrelenting number of rift alerts. However, that being said, he was not about to encourage Jack’s increasing suicidal tendencies by letting him take on an unknown number of weevils at one time. He’d been wearing himself out more him and Gwen recently.

“So do you”

Jack started to argue, but seeing Ianto’s stare, he stopped short. “Fine!”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

If there was a moon that night, it was hidden, making the night dark and misty. Ianto could barely see five feet in front of him, and was quite glad he’d convinced Jack to let him come as the alert involved three Weevils scavenging in the wooded fields behind a Primary School. Luckily, being 2:30am in the morning meant there were no children at risk, but it raised the importance of catching them before school turn in later that morning. His niece and nephew went to this school.

Jack alerted their presence to the three by slamming the door of Ianto’s car, causing them to startle and scramble off, one splitting off into a different direction. Ianto glared at Jack, irritated as he collected the emergency equipment that he kept in his boot. “Did you have to do that?”

“Why? I thought you enjoyed a good chase” Jack said, grinning. “Keep your comm open! And be careful!” He threw over his shoulder, already running off after the pair of weevils.

Ianto quickly disappeared in the opposite direction. Luckily, his single weevil was still in sight, distracted again by another bin at the corner of an alley. Ianto slowed his run to a snail’s pace, whispering under his breath. “Go on. Go down there. Come on”. 

As if it could hear him, the Weevil, sniffed the air and ‘crawled’ further into the alley. Ianto allowed himself a smile. They never learn. The alley in question was a dead end, meaning Ianto could catch it by surprise.

He crept forward, not making a sound. Pressing back against the brick wall, his held stun gun in one hand, weevil spray in the other. The end of the alley was in shadows so he couldn’t see, but as he drew closer he realised the weevil was… nowhere. He looked completely alone, but Ianto knew better than to relax, keeping his gun poised as he walked the alley in a full circle.

The weevil appeared out of nowhere and charged at Ianto, but he was expecting it. Jumping out to the side, he sprayed a long burst into its face and, weakened, it reeled backwards, but didn’t stop. Ianto groaned silently. They would have to strengthen the spray again. Abandoning the canister, he gripped the stun gun in both hands and straightened, preparing for a second attack. He pulled the trigger as it jumped, knocking him to the ground. It collapsed on top of him, out cold, but not before his efforts earnt him a long scratch across his chest.

Ianto lay immobile for a while to recover from the pain, before pushing the limp weevil off him. He stood up, staggering slightly, one arm clenched against the wound. He checking himself after he got his breath back, and could tell it wasn’t too serious, but he still didn’t wish to drip blood everywhere. His comm line was live so was thankful he hadn’t shouted in pain, not wanting to worry Jack in the middle of his own hunt.

“Jack. One down. Where are you?” He could hear the scuffle of a fight over the open line, but there was no response for a few tense seconds, until a strained voice crackled in his ear.

“Little…busy…here, Ianto”

Not wanting to distract Jack anymore than he already had, he didn’t reply, instead turning back to his own catch. Restraining and carrying the captured weevil back to his car was harder than he first thought, but eventually he succeeded, ironically slamming the boot shut with the same force he’d told Jack off for earlier.

After a paralysing moment, he realised that the noises from Jack comm had fallen silent. He tried not to panic – Jack could have just muted his end – by something made him feel that this was not the case.

“Jack? You there? Jack!”

When no response came from the other end, Ianto figured that he was either too busy fighting to turn on his comm, or he had managed to get himself killed again. Ianto felt his heart clench at the thought. While the logical part of him knew that Jack would come back, he swore a part of himself died alongside his lover each time. He grieved each death, especially since he’d discovered how painful and disorientating it was for Jack to revive. It hurt him to see the other suffer and Ianto now made a conscious effort to be there for him when he woke.

He grabbed the discarded PDA from the front seat of the car, using it to track the position of Jack’s comm. The torch he’d found was no use against the mist which had thickened, so he swapped it for his stun gun just in case of any surprises.

It was hard to see as he followed the blinking blue light on his screen and he spent the whole time cursing the Cardiff weather in Welsh. Almost blind, he didn’t realise he couldn’t see any sign of Jack until the screen showed that he should have been directly on top of him. The only sign he had been here was the comm, lying abandoned on the grassy floor, alongside a few streaks of blood that only increased Ianto’s worry about what he might find. Even though Jack was immortal, seeing someone you care about, lying motionless, pale and cold, in a pool of blood was a horrific experience, and one Ianto had seen too many times for his liking.

“Jack?” He called out repeatedly into the dark as he moved around. He hoped for a reply that would signify that Jack was only injured and not dead, but was met only with the same deafening silence.

The ground showed definite signs of a struggle, tracks moving further into the woods behind the school, but with the limited light, it was hard to follow, and after half an hour, reluctantly Ianto had to admit defeat. The tracks were getting impossible to find and if Jack was anywhere near, he would have revived by now and would have responded to his continuous calls.

He needed to return to the Hub, at least for other, more sophisticated equipment, that they kept in the archives. His capture would also have recovered from the shock of the stun gun by the time he returned to his car, and if left it long enough it would be able to escape through the soft material of the back seat.

He also knew he needed to treat his wound on his chest. While not life-threatening at current, a Weevil claws’ were not sanitary, and the last thing he needed was to develop an infection from any one of the thousands of bacteria that resided in Cardiff’s sewers. Jack would not be pleased.

Half-heartedly, Ianto began to trek the difficult journey back to the Hub.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack was not having the one of the best time of his life, which he had decided pretty quickly after he’d separated from Ianto. The two weevils he’d followed were particularly fast and vicious, more so than usual, and it became clear very soon, after they given up the chase and chosen him as dinner, that he was fighting a losing battle. 

He hoped Ianto was okay. He could hear him over the comm, which gave him some relief as he replied. He couldn’t lose his lover – not this soon. It would break him, and he knew it. Tosh and Owen’s deaths had forced back into perspective, the pain he knew was inevitable after Ianto died. It would probably be a hundred times worse. It was why he had wanted him to stay in bed.

He’d noticed Ianto had his suspicions of his new – well heightened - reckless streak, and he would be right. He had been dying more frequently and he wasn’t sure whether it was because he was distracted with worry, or just desperate to protect the remainder of his team. Probably a mix.

The whole situation was his fault. Grey was his responsibility, always had been, especially since the day he’d lost him. The day he’d let his brother’s finger slip through his and cause him to be tortured into wanting revenge. Being buried alive had meant to be his penance, but it seemed now to have only made the heartache and guilt worse, like it hadn’t been enough. Like he’d gone through the pain for nothing when he could have been there in the Hub to help, rather than stuck under hounds of earth or frozen in Cyro.

It was the other things as well, the little details. He knew Ianto and Gwen hadn’t noticed, they were grieving enough themselves, but it was hard for him to know that they were on different timescales. To be honest he couldn’t remember actually telling them how long he’d been buried, not wanting to distract them from the tragedies in the Hub. He wasn’t sure when he first noticed, maybe when he was down there, but it didn’t quite hit until he got back and had to think to remember the codes for the Hub or the directions to Ianto’s flat.

He’d tried to hold on to as much as he could but the little details were lost, some specifics facts of Tosh and Owen’s life that he’d forgotten during the centuries of darkness, pain and fear. The memories the others were using to treasure as they mourn, he no longer had. The specifics of the conversations he had with Tosh, the laughs with Owen. It was as if they’d been buried with him, but unlike him – had not survived.

The thoughts reeling round his head were not helping in the fight against the Weevils and he found himself being whirled into trees and shrubs, claws digging and scratching deeply. His comm fell from his ear, but could do nothing about it, as he tried to fend off one Weevil with the spray, which was proving quickly ineffective, while another came to attack from behind. He was stuck down, unable to move from both the weight of the aliens and the pain raging through his body and strangely, he could feel himself moving as he sank into the familiar blackness.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto arrived back to the Hub in a rush. He had tried to get in contact with Gwen on the way over, but had only reached her voicemail. He wasn’t overly surprised at this time of the morning (around 4am) though. Jack had required phones to be kept on, but as they were so tired, she’d probably slept through it ringing.

He’d already placed the captured Weevil in a pre-prepared cell in the vaults, on the way up from the garage, so headed straight for the medical bay. The place had pretty much been deserted over the last week, except for emergencies, no-one wanting to enter Owen’s domain, but now he pushed past the grief, intent on fixing himself up as fast as possible, so he could get back out to search for Jack. He felt guilty for leaving the man with no transport when he revived, but knew that he had had no choice.

Quickly cleaning and dressing the wound, he dry swallowed some antibiotics and painkillers before setting to work finding some equipment, not bothering even to button his shirt back up. Forcing back a dizzy spell, he took his laptop to the sofa to try and trace Jack’s mobile, but it had no signal. Changing tactics, he started to scan the CCTV around the school, but the images turned out to be useless to the naked eye, the mist blocking him from getting a clear image. He felt a pang in his chest at the thought of how quickly Tosh would have been able to clean up the pictures or access overhead satellites to follow Jack’s movements. Instead, he settled with running the footage through one of Tosh’s old programs that searched for body heat.

He wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but it was probably the combination of exhaustion and the drugs he had taken that made him drift off, as the laptop ran it’s program.

“Jack?” Ianto murmured, as he was shaken awake.

“No it’s Gwen. Sorry, I left my phone in the kitchen, but I got your message. What going on?”

“What time is it?” The events of the early morning were starting to slowly come back to him, but he didn’t know how long he’d been asleep.

“Just gone half seven. What-”

“Shit!” Ianto exclaimed, becoming more alert as he sat up. Gwen was looking at him, stunned by the language until she spotted the bandage that had previously been hidden by the laptop laying open on his chest.

“Ianto! You’re hurt!” She exclaimed, coming closer as if to check he was okay, until he held up a hand to wave her off.

“I’m fine. Is Jack back?” He asked, checking his mobile, but finding no messages. He needed to know. It had been over three hours, and he should have been back by now, or at least bombarding his phone, asking where he was. If he wasn’t, something had to be wrong. While the phone had had no signal to track, it wasn’t far to go to get some.

“I haven’t seen him.” Gwen answered. “What’s happened?”

Ianto ignored her, accessing the laptop and sending the results of the program to his PDA. “Everything’s fine. Could you please man the Hub, I’ll be back later.”

He left the Hub straight after, pausing only to grab his suit jacket and coat that he’d left to dry on the railings by the medical bay. He didn’t totally understand why he hadn’t asked Gwen for help as he drove back toward to the school, but guessed that whatever was happening with Jack, he wouldn’t want to be succumbed to the smothering he would receive from Gwen. He knew she meant well, she was just worried, which was understandable after the tragedies in the Hub, but sometimes it could be too much.

Ianto could sense something had changed with Jack since Grey’s attack on Cardiff. He could tell that Jack was blaming himself for what had happened, similar to how he had himself after Lisa, but knew that nothing he could say would change that. However, he had a feeling something else had a part as well.

They hadn’t spoken much since, but Ianto knew that physical touch sometimes spoke more than words and was enough after what had happened. They held each other each night, both not wanting to be alone.

After Jack had sent Gwen home to be with Rhys the morning after the attack, the two had retreated to Ianto’s flat. There was nothing that could have been said to make things better and so they had showered in silence, before curling up together on Ianto bed.

Ianto had made no comment as he cleaned away the dirt and grime that Jack had missed behind his ear, made no remark at how clingy Jack had been, not allowing him out of his sight the first few days. Ianto remembered that something had happened Jack during the hours he had been out of contact during the attack, John mentioning that he had buried him alive, but Jack seemed to avoid the topic. Ianto was nothing but patient though. Jack would talk in his own time, when he was ready.

He pulled up next to school, avoiding the children arriving early through the gate. A thought flashed to the forefront of his mind, and he hoped he didn’t bump into Rhiannon dropping the children off. He didn’t want to explain why he was driving around in the ‘Torchwood’ emblazoned SUV.

The weather was now on his side. It wasn’t overly hot, but the mist had cleared, and the sun was shining brightly through gaps in the clouds. He quickly set off into the woods behind. Tosh’s program had thankfully borne some results of possible places where Jack could be, and he set off quickly into the woods, resigning himself into searching each place logically.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Pain rippled through Jack’s body as he gasped back to life. Wherever he was, it was pitch black and in that moment, he was back there, buried alive beneath an unbuilt Cardiff. He could smell the acrid dirt pressing down on him, a stark odour of dampness and decay. The terror built up inside him, his heart thumping as he panics, knowing that there will no air to breath. He didn’t know how long he’d been here. He could barely move, pinned down by the weight of the earth on top of him. He held his breath, resisting the urge that tells him to breathe, knowing it would only earn him a mouthful of rancid dirt. _It would only delay the impossible_ he thought as he allowed his mind to sink once again into the darkness.

He gasped back once more, an unknown time later, and the panic rears its head again. It’s still pitch black, but he can move, the weight isn’t the same. His thoughts are clouded, but it’s dark, and he can still smell the dampness of the earth he was so familiar with. He can hear a voice too, the sound penetrating his ears, muffled as if he was underwater, but he knows he not. He’s still buried, he must be. He can’t breathe, but the voice was familiar. No, he can’t be here. He’s not real. Tears rolled freely down his cheeks as he tried to block out the noise.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto could only thank the heat sensors for finding Jack. He would never have found the concealed entrance dug in the edges of a mud bank in the corner of the woods. Thinking about it, it made sense. The weevils had never been round here before, and there were no entrances to the sewers open in the near area. This must be how they got here.

“Jack?” He called out, not really expecting an answer. “You in here?”

The burrow was dark, and Ianto cursed himself for not bringing the torch despite knowing he hadn’t expected to need it now that it was daylight. The PDA thankfully cast a little light, not much but enough to see where he going. It was a tight fit, Ianto almost having to army crawl at one point, but worry for Jack urged him on.

The light from the PDA was what made him spot Jack. He was lying on his side, lengthways down the tunnel, his legs facing him but with his knees drawn to his chest. At first glance, Ianto thought he was still dead, but eventually he heard infrequent the quiet sobs that in echoed in the confined space. He seemed to be having trouble breathing, each breath catching in his throat. His eyes were open, but his pupils were blown in confusion and he had shown no sign that he had seen him. Ianto could recognise the signs of a panic attack, and a bad one at that, and instantly his mind made the connection to Jack being buried alive. Alarmed, he crept forward uneasily, he didn’t want to make thing worse.

“Jack. Hey. You’re safe.” He spoke loudly to ensure Jack heard him, lowering his hand to rest on his lovers shoulder. “Breathe, Cariad. You’re safe.”

“Ianto?” The trembling reply was hesitant. “No you can’t be here. I can’t breathe, it’s all dark”

“I know…” Ianto revealed. “…but, I promise, you’re safe. Look.” Ianto placed the PDA down on the floor in front of Jack, so he could easily see the soft glow, before pulling out his phone to add to the light. Jack blinked at the beam, his eyes starting to focus as he began to realise he was no longer buried.

“Where?” Jack asked, his voice hoarse.

“We’re in some kind of natural made tunnel,” Ianto explained. He hoped that talking would help Jack use him an anchor so that he could escape from his panicked thoughts. “We’re in the woods behind the Primary School remember. The weevils must have found it; it probably leads to the sewers”

Jack eventually started to sit up, well as much as he could in the small space, and Ianto let him lean back into him. His breathing had evened out to a more normal level, but Ianto could tell the panic still hadn’t vanished completely, Jack’s eyes continuing to show a hint of nervousness and fear.

“Come on.” Ianto whispered into Jack’s ear. “Let get you back to the Hub”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto ended up taking Jack straight back to his flat, rather than the Hub, thinking that his bedroom was probably better place rather than Jack confined bunker under his office.

Jack barely made it through the door before his energy seeped away, and he let himself fall to the ground. Ianto caught him under his arms, almost carrying him to the bed and wordlessly removing the blood ridden and mudded clothing from Jack when his fingers fumbled with the buttons.

“Thanks”

The voice was quiet, but audible as Ianto placed the clothes aside to deal with later. It was the first word Jack had said since leaving the woods and it made him smile. The older man was sitting motionlessly on the bed though, eyes still haunted.

“How you doing?” Ianto asked softly as he sat next to him, arm wrapped round his shoulders.

Jack thought about the answer before replying. “Been better.” If Ianto was surprised with the honesty, he didn’t show it, but Jack knew that after today the younger man deserved the truth.

“Do you what to talk about it? Is it about being buried?” Ianto asked hesitantly.

Jack nodded slowly and paused as if thinking about what he was going to say.

“It’s slow suffocating, but not that slow. I came back each time, automatically craving for a lungful of air, but getting only a lungful of dirt instead. Takes a couple of minutes to asphyxiate I think. I’d either choke, or the pressure of the earth on my chest restricted me from breathing. It became shorter and shorter the more I was down there though. I think I spent the majority of the time trying to remember. Trying not to forget. Names and events. Gave me something to focus on. There was so sense of time down there. I just kept suffocating and reviving over and over. Then Torchwood dug me up, I got a sense of freedom, but then had to go straight back in a box. Alice didn’t even let me shower.”

At the mention of Torchwood and Alice, something that Ianto couldn’t properly describe ran through his body. A mix of anger, angst and confusion. “Alice Guppy?” He asked, remembering the name from the archives. Jack didn’t reply, but instead looked down at his lap. Ianto turned him around, so they were facing each other, and took his hands in his. “Jack? How long were you buried?” He asked quietly.

Jack shrugged. “Never bothered to figure it out. Grey mentioned something about the year 27AD when he buried me, and Torchwood dug me up in 1901, I think. They traced the energy signal from John’s ring. I asked them to put me in Cyro with a timed defrost for the day of the attack.”

Ianto couldn’t help but do the mental maths himself. 1874 years buried. 107 in Cyro. “God...Jack.” He wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Eventually I think I entered some kind of trance.” Jack continued quickly, as if he was trying to reassure him. “Either that, or my body just gave up until it knew I was out. I can’t remember that part, but I’m glad it did. It was a long time but not enough to be nearly 2000 years, maybe only…”

“Jack! Jack stop.” Ianto interrupted, not wanting Jack to underplay what he went through. “Why didn’t you say anything?” He asked, trying not to make it sound like he was accusing Jack of anything, because he wasn’t.

“You have enough of your plate, and I deserved it. It was my penance.” Jack replied, repeating what he had told John.

Ianto almost couldn’t comprehend what he was hearing. “You don’t honestly believe that do you?” He asked, already knowing the answer even before Jack shrugged in response.

“You didn’t deserved that. It wasn’t you’re fault.” Ianto urged. “Not Tosh and Owen. Not Grey.”

“I let go of his hand. Let him get taken by those creatures”

“You were just a kid. You were scared and it was an accident. It wasn’t your fault. You trust me, don’t you?”

Jack nodded. “Then trust me on this.” He gathered Jack into his arm again, as they laid down on the bed. He kissed Jack lightly on the forehead. “Sleep.” He whispered.

Jack closed his eyes, feeling more relaxed than he had in a while. Something was still bothering him, though.

“Ianto?” He asked, undecidedly. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anytime. You know that.” Ianto replied, his voice certain, but had an edge of confusion about what Jack wanted. Jack didn’t speak again for a while, so long so that Ianto thought he had changed his mind, but eventually he continued.

“Do you think you can help me remember Tosh and Owen? I tried to hold on to as much as I could, honestly, but some of the little things, I can’t…”

Ianto silenced him with another kiss, but this time on his lips. “I know you did Jack, and of course I will.”

**There we go. Hoped you liked it. Sorry again for being late. I’ll try to get the next one up faster. Ianto whump – O is for Overworked. PLEASE REVIEW. ------ > **


	7. O is for Overworked

**T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D**

**Chapter Summary:** Ianto overworks himself trying to prove himself to the team. Set post 1x07. Contains spoilers to CyberWoman, Countrycide and Fragments.

 **Words:** 3256

 **Disclaimer:** Still no :(

 **Warning:** I am not a doctor so any medical details may be false.

 **Chapter Seven** : O is for Overworked

* * *

_“Pain’s so constant, like my stomach’s full of rats. Feels like this is all I am now. There isn’t an inch of me that doesn’t hurt.”_

Time seemed to be ticking by slowly but quickly at the same time. The days were monotonous yet it was hard for him to tell the difference between them anymore. Days merged into nights. It had been just over a week since they returned from the Brecon Beacons, but it felt longer. The only way to tell time was passing was through the news cases that came and went – the burial site, and Mary, for example.

Their conversations were limited to work related topics, but Ianto felt the others had already forgotten the horrors they’d experienced. But he hadn’t, and it was like his life had become one long vicious circle.

It confused him. They were the same tasks he had been completing before, but they seemed different now, like there was always more to do. If anything, it should have been less, without tending to Lisa anymore, but instead the job seemed to stretch on forever.

The others didn’t notice. Ianto had learnt the art of being invisible, disappearing for hours on end without anyone noticing. Except when they wanted coffee. It was useful at first – purposeful even when hiding Lisa, as no one suspected him. However, he never expected it to be so easy. So easy that, by the end, he wasn’t even trying.

But this was his job. It was all he had left, and it was his penance.

His stupidity had put the lives of the team - the world in danger, and he had the blood of two people on his hands that would never wash off. Not only had he betrayed the team, but he’d betrayed himself. He understood now that the real Lisa had been killed at Canary Wharf, and he’d let his feelings for her fool him.

Ianto didn’t think it was possible, but he was more invisible than before his suspension, only this time it was intentional. Gwen and Owen were too caught up in their new affair to notice how the dark the bags were under his eyes, or how thin he was become, though he found his suit hid that well. Tosh couldn’t seem to look at him, focusing instead on her programs. She was probably disappointed at him for putting her at risk in the field, allowing her to get captured and almost eaten by Cannibals.

Jack however surprised him. He’d fully expected to be killed or retconned, but instead , not only had he been given just a suspension, but Jack had actually forgiven him for the events. The month he’d been off, Jack had come over as company every night for a few hours. He’d resented it at first but soon came to enjoy the visits, loving Jack’s presence and not just because he didn’t want to be alone.

He hated himself for the feeling he was having of Jack. He should begrudge him, be furious at him even, but he couldn’t. What happened was his own fault. Jack might have forgiven him, but the others hadn’t. He needed to prove himself. Make amends for his actions, before he could think about forgiving himself.

Despite not having earnt it yet, an element of trust had also started to appear again between him and Jack, with Jack inviting him out to the field with the team. Either that or he hadn’t been trusted alone in the Hub overnight.

He’d risked believing that that things were looking up, but the careless hopes were obliterated after the events with Cannibals. It was obvious that he’d lost that trust. He was useless in the field. It had been highlighted by how he was unable to help Tosh while she was being held hostage by Mary. He’d panicked and frozen, only thinking “Not again” over and over.

He’d failed to protect Tosh both times, and while Jack hadn’t explicitly said it, he knew he was to blame.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto’s head throbbed as he made his way down into the archives and started with organising the never-ending multitude of artefacts and reports. He had been at Torchwood for nearly 6 months and despite being his official job, he was only half way through sorting the “E” section and that was without counting the other areas that used alien alphabets. He preferred to lose himself in the Archives, the mind-numbing filing and organising keeping the depressing thoughts and memories away, but most days he was too busy with the other jobs that nobody else seemed to know existed.

The residents were fed and cleaned by 6am every morning, then he would make coffee, man the tourist office, fill out reports, make coffee again, order supplies, tidy the hub, complete the finances, make more coffee. He also attended to anything the others ordered him to do – finding files, supplying information or simply being someone to take their frustration out on. It was the least he could do, in fact he liked the tasks and routine he did daily, it gave him a purpose, but it was hard not the take the glares and comments to heart.

He frowned at the report he was categorising, which was taking longer than usual. His concentration was lacking due to the pain in his head, and thinking about it he also felt slightly dizzy.

He was probably low on energy but he never felt hungry anymore. The smell of meat repelled him, but even without any meat, lunch was probably the only regular meal he eaten recently, but then, he ordered it meaning there was no escape. He knew he had to try to eat and sitting with the team did help, (despite being ignored), but he was a slow eater and was lucky to get one slice of pizza forced down him before the rest was gone. The others ate too fast, but he didn’t mind. If he was too bothered, he could make his own food.

He tided the Hub while the others were out, so to avoid the any tension. The team often came in, drained and filthy from rift alerts, rushing to finish their reports so they could go home, but for Ianto the work only just started **.** The artefacts and reports needed to be categorised, logged and filed, before the SUV required cleaning, refuelling and restocking, before he has to attend to the residents once again.

They were tasks that he knew were taken for granted, and often went unnoticed. He never expected any thanks. He didn’t deserve it.

He was lucky to get home before midnight every night, but over the last week, that didn’t seem to matter. The little sleep he could get was plagued with nightmares, old and new, but seemingly amplified with him waking in a cold sweat after only a mere hour or two of sleep. With no chance of get back to sleep, he tried to at least rest, but quickly gave up, choosing to come to work early, desperate for distractions.

He was exhausted and wearing himself to the ground, but he couldn’t stop. He had to continue, prove he wasn’t weak. As he would never gain trust by being part of the team, he earn it other ways.

A wave of nausea hit him suddenly and his head felt woozy. He gripped the shelf tightly to try to regain his balance but the world blurred in front of him and he fell into darkness.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack frowned as he tried to concentrate on his paperwork, but failed. He was concerned about Ianto, and needed to speak to the Welshman, but the younger man seemed to be avoiding him since coming back from the countryside.

It wasn’t hard to sense the tension that was still present in the Hub, even after all this time. He might have forgiven Ianto for the events surrounding Lisa, but it was obvious the others hadn’t.

He was ashamed about how he acted that day. The con man had been conned and he had been furious at Ianto. At how he hadn’t noticed what Ianto had been doing – or even _how he_ was doing. It was like Suzie again, not noticing until the last moment, when it was too late.

That night he’d sent Ianto home, the time and quiet allowing him to calm down considerably and realise that Ianto never meant any harm. He’d betrayed the team, but only to save the woman he loved. Nothing that couldn’t be forgiven – he’d done worse himself.

He chosen to wait until the morning before going to Ianto’s flat, to give him time as well, and hopefully even get some sleep, but instead was mortified by what he found. Ianto was catatonic, still sitting in his blood-ridden suit, truly expecting a bullet to the head, and while he hadn’t said it for a few weeks, in hindsight he realised it was that exact moment that he’d truly forgiven the Welshman.

Over the suspension, Ianto had started to get better, slowly and slowly, with his help. He made sure to show up every night possible (sometimes quite late due to the rift) to ensure Ianto ate, but also just to provide company, and eventually he began to notice Ianto becoming more and more like himself. The witty Ianto he met while catching Myfanwy.

However, now it appeared as if the younger man was beginning to withdraw back into himself again. He had been trying to be patient, suspecting it was about being captured, but the situation had also begun to catch the attention of Tosh. She had confided in him the morning after Mary, troubled by the thoughts she’d heard from Ianto via the pendant, which was one of the reason Jack knew he’d left it long enough.

The other was that Ianto had already been at the Hub at 4am when he had come in this morning after his usual jaunt on a nearby rooftop. He been pondering how he was going to breach the subject with Ianto, not wanting to make the problem – whatever it was – worse.

The report he was completing was getting nowhere, and sighing, he gave up, intent on heading towards the archives.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack made his way through the winding tunnels, heading for the section of the archives Ianto was currently sorting. The whole system of corridors and rooms were a maze, and Jack believed that Ianto was the only operative of Torchwood had ever known that could actually remember their way around without getting lost. (Other than him of course, but that wasn’t surprising after more than a century of working in the Hub).

Turning a corner, Jack’s chest froze at the heart-stopping sight. Ianto was lying slumped on the ground against a shelf, unmoving.

“Ianto!”

Practically collapsing at the fallen man’s side, Jack’s mind went into overdrive as he searched desperately for a sign of life. He finally allowed himself to breathe again when he felt the too rapid pulse against his fingers and the subtle rise and fall of his chest.

“Yan…hey… Yan…wake up…please.” Jack begged, softly tapping his cheek, his skin frighteningly cold under his hand.

There was no response, and after a moment’s indecision, he scooped the still form into his arms, surprised at how light the body was as he sprinted up to the main hub, yelling loudly for Owen.

“OWEN!”

Said doctor jumped up with guilty look. He quickly closing down his computer window, afraid he’d been caught out again, until he caught sight of Jack’s panicked expression and the prone body gathered tightly in his arms. Jack ran straight into the medical bay, Gwen and Tosh tailing behind silently.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Jack explained, placing the younger man gently on the table, but not letting go completely. “I just found him, I think he collapsed in the archives.”

“How long? Who last saw him?”

“It’s been about 5 minutes, but I don’t know…He … err... he brought me coffee about half an hour ago I think.”

“Not too long. Let me run some tests. I call you when I’m done.”

“I’m not leaving him.” Jack gripped Ianto hand tighter.

“Look, he’s probably just fainted, but I got to check him out and I can’t do that with you under my feet.”

“No.”

Owen gave up at Jack’s tone, turning his attention back to Ianto who still hadn’t showed any signs of waking.

Jack stood back with his arms folded over his chest impatiently, his face contorted with worry, as Ianto lay motionless on the autopsy slab. Owen flitted around, measuring Ianto vital signs, muttering angrily to himself, as monitors beeped results.

“Is he going to be okay?” Jack asked hesitantly as finally the doctor started to slow his actions.

“Should be” Owen said, running his hand through his hair as he turned to face Jack. “He’s severely underweight and sleep deprived. You can almost count his fucking ribs.”

“He was here at 4 this morning. He’s overworked himself. I thought he was getting better …”

I should have seen this, you know.” Owen grated, clearly frustrated. “I’m his bloody doctor, for Christ sake.”

“You’re not the only one that didn’t notice” Jack assured, his eyes guilty.

“This didn’t just jump him out of nowhere. He’d been sick for a while, probably nearly a week. But…when people overwork themselves it’s usually for underlying reasons.”

Jack nodded. “He’s been distracted since we got back from…”

Before Jack could finish, Ianto groaned faintly. Owen rushed to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder as Ianto struggled to sit up. “I don’t think so, teaboy. You’re not going anywhere yet.”

“I’m fine.” Ianto whispered, his voice slightly slurred.

“And I’m the Queen of England” Owen mocked, pulling a juice carton out of his fridge. “Drink!” he ordered, holding the pierced straw up to Ianto’s mouth. “You’re blood sugar level’s too low.”

Too tired to argue, Ianto complied reluctantly sipping slowly.

“What can I do?” Jack asked, moving closer again and retaking Ianto hand in his, surprised when Ianto flinched at the touch.

“Take him home to sleep. I’ll give you some tablets, but make sure he eats something first”

“I’m not hungry.” Ianto murmured before Jack could answer.

“I don’t care.” Owen abolished. “You’re skin and bone. Eat or I’ll put in a feeding tube – and you won’t like that.” He turned back to look at Jack. “Stay with him, make sure he actually takes the tablets.”

“You don’t need to stay” Ianto said weakly, ducking his head. “I can look after myself.”

“Yeah, because you’re doing an amazing job so far.”

“Owen!” Jack interrupted sternly. “Lay off.”

With an exaggerated huff, Owen stalked out the medical bay to talk to Gwen and Tosh. Jack helped Ianto up off the table, supporting him with a steadying hand. “Come on, let’s go.” 

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

To Ianto’s confusion, Jack stopped off on the way home, telling him to stay in the car. The confusion only increased when Jack came back, laden with shopping bags.

“Sir?”

“I’m making an educated guess that you haven’t got any food at home.”

Ianto chose not reply. He was right, but Jack already knew that. He was however still not sure why Jack was helping him. He thought he was angry with him.

Entering Ianto’s flat, Jack headed straight for the kitchen, gesturing to the table as Ianto followed behind. “Sit” Jack ordered, but without it’s usual power.

Ianto obeyed, perching silently as Jack pottered around the kitchen, eventually placing a two bowls of warm chicken and ginger broth on the table, sitting down opposite him.

“Not my best, but I don’t think your stomach will manage anything more substantial”

Ianto stammered a thank you before the two ate without a word, Ianto feeling small under Jack’s continuous stare, bracing himself for the inevitable conversation that overshadowed them. As soon as he finished, Jack removed the bowl from in front of him, before sitting back down.

“Now…” Ianto tensed as Jack breached the topic. “…What’s going on? I thought things were getting better…”

“They were… At least I assumed they were”

“Then what? You’ve not been sleeping have you?”

“I just…” Taking a deep breath, the emotions he’d restrained for the last week, suddenly burst out. “I just can’t forget what occurred. Everyone else seems to have forgotten, but my mind seems to want to remind me every second I try to sleep. So I gave up trying and thought I get an early start. It’s not like I don’t have things to do.”

“You are the first one in every morning, and last to leave. You are taking on too much.”

“It’s my job. I have to.”

“No it’s not. It’s not your job to run around to everyone’s beck and call. Why would you think that?”

“It’s the only way I can try to earn back trust. I thought I was getting there, but I went and lost it again. I’m useless in the field. I nearly got Tosh killed, let alone myself. The least I can do is keep things in order at the Hub.”

“You’re exhausted and that makes the dreams worse, which in turn stresses you out more. It’s a constant loop, but it’s not impossible to break. Trust me.”

“It shouldn’t affect me like this – everyone else seems fine”

“Having nightmares doesn’t make you weak. It makes you human. And for the record, I do trust you. You were excellent in the field, especially with finding the SUV and you risked you’re life to protect Tosh. She’s grateful and worried not disappointed. She came to me yesterday morning, to ask if I knew anything was wrong. She’s just been working through her own difficulties too, not just you.”

Jack paused, looking Ianto in the eye.

“And … I’m sorry for… well everything … but also for the countryside. The whole thing was shambles. It was meant to be a team building exercise, instead to broke the team apart even more. I will be having words tomorrow, we all need to do our fair share. You haven’t done anything the others haven’t done, or would do you in your situation.”

As he said it, Jack’s mind flashed to Tosh stealing secrets to protect her mother and the way Owen fought to save Katie, pushing for more tests and medicine. If he’d thought he’d found a way…and way… Jack had no doubt he would have taken it – no matter the consequences.

“You don’t need to…”

“I know I don’t need to. I want to. The others _can_ make their own coffee you know.”

“I don’t think that qualifies as coffee” Ianto deadpanned, causing Jack to smile.

“It’s still coffee, you just placed the line on quality rather high.”

Jack placed a chaste kiss to his forehead before passing some tablets to Ianto, that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. “Take these, they’ll help you sleep.” He watched Ianto swallow before leading him to the bedroom and helped him undress.

“Why didn’t you execute me… or retcon me?” Ianto asked hesitantly as he laid down. The drugs were kicking in and he was feeling drowsy.

“Why would I?”

“It’s protocol. I endangered the whole world”

“I’ve done things myself… far worse things even, and my reasons were less pure than yours. You were simply trying to save the women you love.”

“But she wasn’t… she wasn’t _Lisa_ anymore.”

“You believed she was. That’s all the matters.”

**Notes: Hope you enjoyed it. Please Review and let me know which chapter is your favourite so far :) Another one down… two more to go! So close.**


	8. O is for Outside Chances

**T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D**

**Chapter Summary:** A simple retrieval mission goes sideways. No surprise there then. Set late season 2.

 **Words:** 5600

 **Disclaimer:** Afraid not, cause if I did, Ianto was definitely be immortal. Jack is owed that much

 **Warning:** I’m not a doctor so any medical details here may be false. Google is Google.

 **Chapter Seven** : O is for Outside Chances.

* * *

**_Another_ ** **O! I really thought this through… Anymore and I would run out of ideas. Only joking – never!**

“Tell me again why we couldn’t just bring the SUV?” Jack griped as he walked, adjusting the strap of his backpack over his shoulder. He hated wearing one over his greatcoat, but Ianto had his own and it was only fair.

“Because…” Ianto sighed, from his position a few metres ahead. “It’s rocky and steep in places, and the grass is too long to see what’s beneath. You wouldn’t be the one having to change the tyres if you drive over something sharp.” He stopped and turned around. “Anyway, what’s wrong with a pleasant hike through the nature’s fields, anyone would think you’re becoming lazy.”

“I’m not!” Jack disputed. “I can just think of better thing we could be doing right now. Come to think about it, last night we…”

“Jack! Time and place.”

“Fine.” The older man whined. His expression could have almost been described as a pout as he changed the subject. “How much further anyway?”

Glancing briefly at the PDA in his hand, Ianto pointed into the distance ahead of them. “Not far. A few klicks* northeast, just inside that tree line. You have any idea what it could be yet?”

“Nope. Tosh’s readings didn’t register any life signs so probably just another lot of flotsam. When is the rift next going to give us something interesting?”

Ianto ignored him, but cringed in his head, hoping the Captain hadn’t just jinked them.

They cleared the first trees some 30 minutes later. They split up when the PDA bleeped to signify they were close, moving slowly as they scanned the area in search of anything out of the ordinary, hidden between the trees.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Jack groaned loudly from behind him and Ianto spun around, jogging slightly as he retraced his steps backwards to where the other was standing. Moving round his shoulder, Ianto spotted what had caused Jack to complain. In a shallow ditch, covered by leaves, was a large box, (Ianto guessed it was about a half-metre long and a 40cm wide. The family eye, he mused) made out of something vaguely resembling stone. From a quick glance, it could have been confused as something natural, but looking closer, Ianto could see the corners were smooth, metal handles were attached either side and it was covered with stickers. It almost looked like a parcel when delivered to a house.

“What is it?” He asked Jack, who had moved forward while he’d been thinking.

“Hang-on…” Jack crouched to examine one of the labels, squinting a little as if trying to remember something. “Thought so. Long time since I read this language. It’s a containment box.”

“Containment of what?”

“Don’t know – doesn’t say. Chemicals probably. Doesn’t look breached… should be safe”

Ianto moved closer, circling round to the opposite side of the box. “We’d better get it back to the Hub.” He squatted, grabbing the handles and attempted to lift the box. It didn’t budge.

“Here, let me help.” Jack offered, taking one handle. It required a great deal of determination but eventually the two managed to lift the box out of the ditch, both men sweating with exertion.

“What chemical in the universe could be this heavy?” Ianto asked, rubbing his shoulder. “How are we going to transport this back to the SUV?” Ianto caught a look on Jack’s face. “If you’re going to say what I believe you are sir, don’t.” Ianto really didn’t feel like hearing _‘I told you so’_ today.

“What? I didn’t say anything.” Jack returned, grinning cheekily.

“You didn’t have to” Ianto muttered, barely audibly.

“Anyway” Jack continued. “We have to somehow, so we better get moving. We can’t leave it here any longer. It could be dangerous if it gets damaged.”

_*Klicks – Kilometres*_

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

It was slow going. Their burden was awkward to carry, and they couldn’t walk in a straight line, having to manoeuvre around shrubs and other obstacles in the long grass. As they walked, it wasn’t long before they realised it was rapidly getting darker and the air turned humid. The wind picked up and dark clouds overshadowed them, but they were only halfway back to where they’d left the car, and the trees were far behind them.

“I don’t like the look of those clouds” Ianto muttered, glancing upwards. It was as if the earth heard him since, as soon as he spoke, they heard the first flash of lightening above them and a rumble of thunder a few seconds later. “We’re going to get soaked, there’s no shelter out here.”

“We have to move faster.” Jack called loudly over the noise of the wind billowing in his ears. “That lightening is too close for comfort.” While Jack hadn’t ever been hit by lightning before, he had been electrocuted multiple times and it wasn’t fun.

They were both drained, shoulders aching from the strain, but they managed to pick up the pace slightly, the feat made easier by the gradual downhill slope they had reached. The first drops of rain started to spatter sparsely, but in minutes the heavens opened, and the heavy downpour drenched them in seconds, making it harder to see. Ianto had been correct in saying there was no shelter, nothing but small shrubs as far as the Jack could see, so with no choice but to continue, they hoped that they would find something soon.

Jack lurched sideways as he felt something wooden snap beneath his feet, one hand flailing wildly at a nearby shrub, as the ground disappeared from under him. Ianto heard the ominous creak before anything else, but with no time to warn Jack, the man disappeared from view, their cargo following. His reactions slow from exhaustion, the weight of the box pulled him down too, before he could let go. His hands grabbed the long grass, slowing his fall for a second before it gave away from the ground, arms rising in an attempt to protect his head as he fell headfirst into darkness…

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto blinked awake sluggishly, lying on his stomach, his eyes trying to adjust to the gloom. “Jack?” He called as his memories returned in stages, but worryingly no response returned. His whole body stung as he shifted, causing him to slow his motions as he gingerly kneeled, trying to identify his surroundings.

His left arm was burning, as he turned round to sit, shouting involuntarily as the movement jerked his arm. He could recognised the metallic taste of blood as drops dripped from his forehead onto his lips, but ignoring it, he reached awkwardly behind him with his good hand to remove his backpack. He wasn’t sure if his arm was broken or simply strained as he hugged it tightly to his chest – that was Owen’s job - but still the task was exceptionally difficult with only one available hand. Amazingly without causing another surge of pain, he managed to retrieve the powerful flashlight he’d packed earlier. Flicking it on, he scrunched his eyes shut at the sudden light, waiting for them to adjust, before shining the torch around in search of Jack.

The beam found the still form quickly, and Ianto’s heart stuttered. “Jack!”

Even from his distance a couple metres away, Jack was visibly dead, eyes half open and dull, neck bent at an unnatural angle. The sight was unnerving to see, even with the knowledge that Jack would eventually be fine, as he could guess how much pain he would be in when he revived, even if the captain would most certainly underplay it.

Something else in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and moving the beam, his concern spiked again. The stone box had fatefully chosen to land itself on Jack’s lower leg, the weight, Ianto could imagine, undeniably crushing the bone beneath.

Carefully minding his arm, he scooted over to where Jack lay lifelessly, straightening out his neck as much as he could, in hope that it aided Jack’s healing process, or at least would help with the pain. However, moving down Jack’s body, he couldn’t shift the containment box off Jack’s leg no matter how hard he tried. It had been impossible to lift with two hands, so there was no chance with one.

“AHH”

Instinctively, he’d attempted to make use of his injured limb, but the pain caused his vision to blur, and not wanting to pass out again, he quickly disregarded the idea. There was nothing else he could do until Jack revived, but he had no idea how long it would take, or if he even would while his leg was crushed.

Sitting back against a wall for support, he hooked his backpack over with his foot, rummaging for the First Aid Kit, but coming up empty, he frowned. He’d definitely remembered packing it, but after a few seconds of confusion, he realised it must have been in Jack’s pack. Using the torch, he quickly spotted the required bag, thankful it had landed not too far from its owner, so he could reach it without moving. With his scarce medical knowledge, it took a while for Ianto to find a way to clumsily splint his arm, but mercifully, it didn’t take him as long to find pre-prepared morphine syringes. There were only two in the pack and, aware that Jack would need more, he injected himself with barely a half dosage. He leaned back again, breathing heavily as he waiting for the drugs to kick in.

He could hear the storm raging above, the flashes of lightening hardly visible through the splintered wooden planks that had previously been covering the hole. While he couldn’t see them, the ground vibrated as several bolts struck the ground above them, sometime sending clumps of dirt raining down. It appeared to be some kind of ventilation shaft in a mine, but he wasn’t sure. He shivered uncontrollably, unsure whether it was due to the cold or the thought of the ground collapsing inwards.

‘Probably both’ He thought aloud to himself. Their clothes were still drenched and the ground was damp, but at least they were out of the howling wind and the pouring rain. Hypothermia was still a possibility, but at least it would take longer to set in. His head wound had finally clotted, but choosing not to risk more blood loss, he merely cleaned the surrounding blood from his face.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

After checking for signal (and having none), he turned off his phone to save battery, along with the torch. Without being able to see his watch without the light, he wasn’t sure how long he sat there, but it felt over an hour before Jack inhaled loudly as his body was hauled back to life. Ianto snapped the torch back on instantly as Jack yelled in pain; seeing his body hunched forward, hands clasping at his leg.

“Jack!” Rushing forward, as he used both hands to push Jack back to lay down, ignoring his still smarting arm. His breathing was considerably strained and irregular, eyes clenched closed while his body trembled in agony. Ianto wasted no time with stabbing the needle in Jack’s thigh, depressing the plunger to release the remaining contents of the syringe.

“Hey, Jack. Can you hear me? You’ve got to breathe. Jack. Come on - focus on me.” Ianto kept a reassuring (non-injured) hand on Jack’s shoulder as he continued to coax his lover to concentrate on his voice rather than the pain.

“-anto” Jack murmured, his lips hardly moved, but Ianto took the win as his breathing began to settle down to a more manageable level.

“Yeah, it’s me…” He waited another minute before asking the next question. “Better?”

“A bit” Jack replied, more audibly as his eyes opened, glanced around quickly after adjusting to the dim light. Eventually his gaze fixed onto Ianto’s face, barely visible in the dark. “What happened? Where are we?” he asked, looking around again, wincing as he moved his neck.

“We fell…”

“The containment box! Is it safe?” Jack interrupted, remembering what had happened as soon as Ianto started to explain.

“It’s intact.” He’d checked earlier in fear that some unknown chemicals had leaked out from the impact. “It would appear it was built to last, but unfortunately it’s crushed your leg severely. I don’t know if it’ll heal without moving the weight, but I can’t shift it – sorry.”

“Not your fault.” The words and breath sounded slightly forced and despite the morphine, Ianto could see his leg was causing more pain that he was letting show, but he was reluctant to give him more in case they needed it later. “Let me try…” Jack argued, moving to sit up, but failing against Ianto holding him back.

“No, you can’t – trust me. It took two of us earlier at full strength. There’s no chance – the most you’ll do is make it worse.”

Jack collapsed back onto the sodden floor in defeat. The pain was debilitating, though it had lessened considerably since he’d revived and presumed it was Ianto’s doing. Taking a few slow, deep breaths, he tried to concentrate on other things. He was not a stranger to pain, and had trained himself to block most of it out over the years, so he could still attempt to function if injured.

“Where you think we are?” He asked again, finding his voice was now stronger than earlier.

“Not sure…” Ianto answered uncertainly. “It must be some abandoned mine shaft, but there were none marked on the map – I’d remember.”

“Doesn’t have to be. People made their own as a way of swindling money. There was a rise of illegal, unmarked mines in the late 60’s. Got sent to shut down a few myself.”

“By Torchwood?”

“Yep. One thing nearly all species love is money. I know a planet where one cup of coal is like gold dust.”

He grinned, causing Ianto to laugh, but he promptly froze as he saw the latter wince in the torchlight.

“What’s wrong? You’re hurt!” Jack exclaimed, panicked, eyes flashing his fear, internally cursing himself for not asking or noticing sooner. Ianto looked fine, but he knew the Welshman was good at holding things in, and he observed that the younger man seemed to be keeping to the shadows.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” Ianto replied, too fast to adequately ease his concern.

“I thought you promised never to lie to me again.” His tone sounded harsher than intended and he hoped Ianto realised he was more worried than angry. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I broke my arm in the fall, but honestly I’m fine jack. I took some painkiller.”

“Let me see.” He returned, partly sitting up again with trouble. Knowing there was no point arguing, Ianto reluctantly slid forward an inch into the light, shifting his splinted arm from where it had been resting on his chest. As lightly as possible, Jack fingered his arm, watching Ianto’s face from one eye to check if he was hurting him.

“Yep, it’s broken” he confirmed as Ianto stiffened when his fingers pressed a certain point. “Not too bad. Nice splint.” He added calmly, his fears fading.

“Thanks.” Ianto withdrew his arm back to rest against his again, as he changed the conversation to a different topic. “What now?”

“Don’t know – how long since we fell?”

“Nearing a couple hours” Ianto guessed. “My phone’s got no signal this low, and I doubt I’ll be able to climb to get any without a rope. Where’s yours”

“It _**was** _in my back pocket, but from what I can feel under me, the whole thing’s as flat as the battery.” Jack joked, before becoming serious. “And there’s no way you’re even attempting to climb out.” He continued, studying the almost flat walls. “You might not survive the next fall. We’ll wait for the others – they should be expecting us back soon anyway.”

“We’re miles from where we parked, Jack, and it’s nearly dusk. The gap was invisible in the day; they’ll never spot it in the dark. We’re going to here all night.”

Ianto shivered again at the thought and tried to rub warmth into his body. The action didn’t go unnoticed by Jack, but instead of looking worried, he simply looked thoughtful as he spoke.

“There should be an emergency blanket in the front of my pack,” he described. “Owen thinks of everything.”

Ianto replied by grabbing the bag. He was expecting a normal blanket, but instead was pleased to find it was in fact a large space blanket, one that wouldn’t get wet from the ground or his clothes as he wrapped it around himself. Rummaging more, he discovered a pack of electrolyte drink cartons and energy bars, his stomach unconsciously rumbling as he remembered they hadn’t eaten anything bar some sandwiches late morning.

“Here…” He awkwardly ripped a bar open with his teeth, biting half off and handing the other to Jack. “Eat.” He continued after swallowing. The carton was more difficult and eventually he gave up, steadying it with his injured hand whilst he pierced the straw. He took a few sips before passing the rest to Jack. Not wanting him to choke, he supported the immortal into a half sitting position while he drank.

“You should get some sleep. You’re right, we’ll be here a while.” Jack suggested when he finished. Ianto merely looked confused.

“I thought it was bad to sleep when you’re cold.” Ianto was also anxious about sleeping with his head wound, but decided against mentioning that.

“True, but you’ll be fine with the blanket and you need to conserve energy. We got trained for these situations.”

Ianto didn’t know where or when Jack had trained (Torchwood? War? Or the Time Agency he’d mentioned briefly?). However, he trusted Jack was right. He certainly felt warmer now he had the blanket, but he was concerned about Jack. “What about you?”

“Me too.” Ianto still didn’t look convinced, so Jack patted the space next to him. “Come here. Promise.”

Hesitantly, Ianto relented, moving to lay next to Jack. ‘It’s not like I’m going to get much sleep with the storm and pain’ he thought as he tried to get comfortable, but unexpectedly, the sudden added warmth and familiar scent of pheromones accompanied him into a dreamless sleep.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Truthfully, Jack did succeed in dozing on and off for several hours, but the pain from his shattered bone piercing his skin resulted in a restless and fitful sleep that did nothing to recharge him.

He could sense something was amiss, the feeling become increasing apparent each time he awoke, almost as if he was disconnected from his body. Something wasn’t quite right, his skin warm regardless of the cool air of the shaft and his muscles were stiff and weak from blood loss.

He had probably developed an infection in his leg from the damp, grimy floor. He had no doubt that the bacteria had entered his bloodstream and supposed septic shock would kill him within 12 hours if they weren’t found, but the apparent crush syndrome would also occur, causing kidney failure and the combination of both would probably cut that time down by a third, maybe more.

He could sense it had already started, his muscles throbbing in his thigh, while his crushed leg was becoming numb from lack of a proper blood supply. He felt nauseous, but knew the retching would wake Ianto and signify something was wrong. He preferred to let the latter sleep through the pain in his arm.

He felt strangely calm about dying, and wondering when it had become almost as natural as living. It wasn’t the fact he was dying that scared him, it wouldn’t be the worse he had experienced, but instead it was the prospect of leaving Ianto alone in the dark for an unknown period of time. The slower the death, the longer it took to revive.

He succumbed into another longer sleep but it was still disturbed, plagued with nightmares. He woke alarmed, light-headed as tremors pulsated through him, his clothes unpleasantly sticky against his back. A wave of nausea crested again, and unable to contain it another time, he pitched sideways, violently bringing up the little he had eaten.

“Jack?” Ianto rolled over, disturbed by the noise to kneel above Jack as the dry-retching continued, rubbing his back soothingly until the tremors subsided. Jack slumped back as the last of his strength was sapped from his body. He was sweating profusely, his hair stuck to his forehead, and gently brushing it out of his eyes, Ianto felt the heat radiating from Jack’s skin. “God Jack, you’re burning up!”

“’m o-kay” Jack rasped, the two words almost too much for him to speak.

“I believe that rule about lying goes both ways.”

“H-hur-ts”

“Where?” Ianto could tell from his own arm that the pain medication had clearly worn off, but this reaction seemed more than just his leg.

“Ev-every-th-ing”

“Your leg?”

“N-no… G-go-ne Nu-mb. D-de-ad.” Jack released another cry of pain as his body convulsed.

“I’ve got another dose of morphine.”

“Y-You use it. N-eed it m-ore, dy-ing any-way”

“We’ll share.” Ianto compromised, injecting a little into his thigh and giving the rest to Jack. “How can I help?” Gravely, he had realised that without immediate medical attention, Jack would die, but he hated to see his captain suffer unnecessarily.

“S-tay.” Jack’s voice quivered unsteadily, but did sound stronger as his pain diminished to a dull ache.

“Where else am I going to be?”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Owen sighed as he finished yet another experiment on the plants in the Hothouse, moving down to the autopsy bay to log the results. The girls had gone home for the night and Jack was on some dull retrieval with Ianto, so he had the Hub to himself. Before he had died, he’d never realised how intimidating the Hub was alone at night, but now he wondered how Jack managed.

However, not being able to sleep, he often stayed late, trying to pass the time with work and dreading the overbearing boredom that awaited him at home – there was only so much TV one could watch – but he truly believed that soon he was going to run out of ideas.

He was distracted by the alarm signifying someone’s entrance through the cog door. Thinking it was Jack, he was surprised to see Tosh heading straight for her workstation, as he came up the stairs from his bay.

“Has Jack or Ianto come back yet?” She asked, sounded concerned.

“No, why?”

“Got a feeling something’s wrong. There’s been reports of a severe storm near Ross-on-Wye, which…”

“…is where the Rift alert was at.” Owen finished, moving over to join her.

“Exactly. I called them both, but it went straight to voicemail.” Tosh called up her tracking program on her screen. “The SUV hasn’t moved since this morning, and there’s no trace on their mobiles.”

“It’s the bloody countryside, I expect they have no signal.” Owen justified, trying to ease the building alarm. “They’re probably shagging in a cave somewhere, waiting out the storm.”

“That what I thought – the cave, not the... but there are no cave in the area, I checked. Nothing more than bushes for miles.”

“So they’re out there in the rain. They’ll freeze!” Owen exclaimed, panicked as his mind ran through the risks of hypothermia. Jack might be okay but Ianto wasn’t as invincible. “When did the storm start?”

“About 5 hours ago. It’s easing now…”

Owen was no longer listening, grabbing his medical bag and the emergency equipment kits that were prepacked for when the SUV wasn’t available. “We have to go – now!”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack faded in and out of consciousness for the next hour, never more coherent than it took to mumble inaudibly and take a few sips of another drinks carton to sooth his sore throat. The times he was ‘awake’ were mostly spent coughing viciously, but thankfully he had not been sick again. His skin had turned pale and clammy and Ianto took to pressing dampened bandage against his forehead to try control the fever.

He felt out of his depth, unable to properly help, so he tried to do as much as possible - little things to try ease his conscience. He could hear the storm quietening above him, and he tried his phone again, hopeful that the rain had been block some signal, but had no such luck.

The torch flickered dangerously, and Ianto stared, almost daring it to go out.

“Y-an?”

Startled at the voice, Ianto turned his attention back to Jack who was staring straight up uneasily, face creased in pain. “Hey. You’re awake.”

Jack’s mouth opened in a false start, closing to swallow erratically before trying again. “can -ake -oat off, -lease”

“You want your coat off?” Ianto guessed, and at Jack’s slight nod, he carefully lifted Jack’s upper body to slide the coat off from underneath. He wasn’t surprised at the request as he handled the heavy material that was soaked with sweat. It had probably been irritating his back. Jack tried to help, but was too weak, and Ianto resigned to using both hands, gritting his teeth in a silent pain as he felt something shift in his arm.

“-hanks”

Ianto placed the coat to one side. Jack was silent once again and he was thinking he had fallen asleep again, when he spoke up.

“The PDA h-ad si-gnal, r-ight?”

“Yep.”

“Y-ou” Jack coughed weakly. It seemed to be taking a lot of effort to speak clearly, as if he was desperate to get his point across. “You re-mem-ber…Su-zie…lock-lockdowned…Hub?”

“Yes…” Ianto replied hesitantly, not understanding where the conversation was heading.

“The ph-one we-re dead… You u-sed the wa-ter-tower as a re-relay. Th-ink y-ou c-could do so-me-thing sim-il-ar with…?” The talking caused another coughing fit, so he finished by pointing at the backpack, before he collapsing back into unconsciousness.

“Maybe…” Musing, ideas sparked in his head as searched the contents of bags.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Luckily, being night, the traffic was light and it didn’t take them even an hour to reach the parked SUV, Owen’s driving skills competing with Jack’s. The rain had lightened slightly as Owen got out the car, headlights shining as he glanced round at the endless fields. “Where on earth do we start?”

“I’m trying to configure some heat sensors,” Tosh explained from inside the car, waiting for Owen to re-join her before continuing. “I’m not sure if they’ll work with the freezing temperatures, but it’s better than nothing.”

“They still should have some body heat compared to the surrounding.” Owen supplied, ‘If they’re still alive’ he added to himself solemnly.

A phone ringing disrupted them. Withdrawing her mobile, Tosh glanced ecstatically at the caller ID. “It’s Ianto!” She exclaimed, pressing accept.

“Ianto! What’s going on? We found the SUV. Where are you?” Tosh asked before anyone could speak, turning on the loudspeaker for Owen’s sake. “Are you hurt?” he added for good measure.

“Tosh…fell……Jack….pped……need…lp…”

“Ianto we can barely hear. Where are you?” Owen asked, straining to hear through the crackled noise.

“Don’t….Mine sha….brin….rope….trace call….”

Getting the gist of the conversation, he looked over at Tosh who had already taken the liberty of tracking Ianto’s signal. “Okay, are you hurt?” he repeated, training his attention back. “Where’s Jack?”

“I’m…ne…Jack…crus……dyi….”

“Ianto you’re breaking up.” Owen interrupted, but the phone had already disconnected. “Tell me got that!” he snapped at Tosh who didn’t even flinch.

“About 2.6 miles northeast” she described pointing. “Did you get anything more from Ianto?”

“No. All I could understand is that they’ve fallen and somethings up with Jack. Ianto sounded worried.” Gunning the engine, he took off rapidly onto the fields. Startled, Tosh grabbed her laptop to stop it falling.

“Owen! You’re going to rip the tyres.”

“I’m taking the risk” he opposed. “I’m not walking in this.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto kicked the wall angrily as the phone disconnected, wincing as the vibrations jolted his arm and praying that the call had been long enough to trace. After the conversation he was more hopeful that they’d be out by morning, but turning back to Jack, his heart froze.

Jack was lying motionless and for one guilt-ridden second, Ianto thought his lover had died without him there or even noticing, but eventually he spotted Jack’s chest rise and fall shallowly as he took a shaky breath.

Returning to his side, Ianto took Jack’s hand in his, amazed when his eyes half opened at the touch. They portrayed his pain as he struggled to breath, visibly delaying the inevitable. “Hey, it’s alright. Rest.”

“Y-ou…a-al-one” Jack rasped and Ianto almost cried. Only Jack could be more worried about him while lying at death’s door. He rubbed circle on the back of Jack’s hand calmingly.

“It’s okay. The phone worked. Got through to Tosh and Owen. They’re close. I’ll be fine.”

As he spoke, the words appeared to ease Jack’s worries as Jack’s mind finally gave up the fight his body had already lost, Jack’s breathing and shivering shuddering to a stop, head lolling lifelessly.

Ianto wasn’t sure whether he should feel remorse or relief that Jack’s suffering was over, hoping that the others would arrive before Jack revived.

He didn’t have to wait long before torchlight flashed above him and he heard voices calling his name.

“Down here” he shouted as loudly as possible with his dry throat, but thankfully, it paid off as Owen’s head appeared through the hole.

“Ianto. You okay, mate?”

“I’m fine. Get down here!” He ordered, using the tone the others knew not to argue with.

After a moments debate, Tosh and Owen configured the car as a pulley system, attaching one end to the back seats and the other around Owen’s chest and shoulders, so that when Tosh reversed, it lowered Owen down into the shaft. Reaching the floor, he took in the mess around him, grimacing.

“Mate…” His gaze landed on Jack’s still frame and Ianto by his side and stopped. “…Your arm.”

“Doesn’t matter. Help me!” Ianto ordered stubbornly, crouching by the containment box, not wanting to waste more time than they already had.

With combined struggle and pain from Ianto as spasms ran down his arm, they both succeeded in lifting the weight off Jack’s leg, cringing at the sight beneath. Tying the rope securing round it, Owen gave two tugs to signify Tosh to drive, watching as the box vanished above them.

“Ready to get out of here?” Owen probed, giving Ianto a cursory examine while they waited for the rope to return. Ianto set about repacking the various items scattered around as he answered.

“What do you think? I want to get back before Jack revives.” He felt it was the least he could do to ensure Jack came back dry and clean.

The ride back to Cardiff was almost as fast. Tosh had taken the SUV, while Ianto sat in the back of Owen’s car, Jack’s head in his lap. No - one spoke a word until they neared the Plass.

“Can we go back to my flat?” Ianto requested, thoughtful. “It’s easier and…”

“Sure…” Owen interrupted, needing no more explanation as he swung the car around. He had his kit with him and remembering how he felt earlier in the Hub, he realised the dark, underground Hub was not the best place for any of them to be right now.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

When Jack revived, he found himself lying on the bed in Ianto’s flat, dry and swamped in clothes. Sensing movement beside him he turned his head to find Ianto, equally wrapped up, perched in his chair as Owen plaster-casted his arm.

“Jack!” Ianto moved to rise out the chair but was pushed back by Owen.

“Ah-Ah. Sit! There’s plenty of time for loving reunions after I’m gone.”

Ianto glared but complied, allowing Owen to finish but still keeping his attention on Jack. “You okay?”

“Better. Thanks.” He breathed harshly, but was telling the truth, the sharp sting and ache of his revival was nothing compared to the agony of earlier. “You?” He’d directed the question at Ianto, but it was Owen that answered.

“He’ll be fine, though he should be glad that bone knitter fell through the rift the other month, or he’d be looking at months with a broken arm. As it is, it will still take longer than it would to heal.” He glowered at Ianto, who ducked his gaze, chastised. “Might teach you not to use a broken arm, though.”

“What?”

Ignoring Jack, Owen continued. “Head’s got a nasty gash but no sign of concussion. You’ll be back at work in no time, Teaboy.”

“You didn’t tell me you hit your head?” Jack said and Ianto blushed, embarrassed by the attention.

“It’s nothing – I forgot.” Jack didn’t look convinced, but let it slide, too content to argue.

A short while later, Owen had made a hasty exit, leaving with strict instructions not to partake in anything too strenuous, but he needn’t have troubled as they both were too tired to try. Ianto lay in bed beside Jack relishing the warmth.

“I’m sorry-“

“What for?” Jack scanned Ianto’s features to try to read his emotions, confused.

“I couldn’t do anything to help.” Ianto explained guiltily. “I’ve never felt so helpless, even after…” he trailed off, not wanting to finish where he was heading.

“You did help!” Jack protested, eager to make Ianto understand as he placed a chaste kiss to his forehead. “There was nothing you could have done, other than what you did. We’d probably still be there if not for you. You stayed and I wasn’t alone. It was one of the best things you’ve ever done.”

**Done! Slightly longer than the others but this chapter just seemed to pour out of me! Hope you enjoyed it. One more to go…**

**PLEASE REVIEW.**


	9. D is for Deafening

**T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D**

**Chapter Summary:** Ianto has another secret. He lost most of his hearing at Canary Wharf… This is split into different sub-stories depicting how everyone finds out and their reactions.

 **Words:** 5767

 **Disclaimer:** Afraid not, cause if I did, Ianto was definitely be immortal. Jack is owed that much.

 **Warning:** I’m not a doctor so any medical details here may be false. Google is Google.

 **Chapter Seven** : D is for Deafening

**Notes: Final one! Bit of an different one but I hope you enjoy. I tried to make it a realistic as possible, but in the end – this is Torchwood. The impossible happens every day.**

* * *

** 1\. Ianto **

If there is one thing Ianto Jones hated the most, it was others looking at him with pity, as if he was incapable of handling things like a normal human being. He’d ample examples of it when he was a child to last him a lifetime. When his father had broken his leg on the swings. When his mother was admitted to Providence Park.

He’d never told Jack about his final scar from Canary Wharf. He had seen the physical ones – the burns on his arms from pulling Lisa out the ruins - and he’d experienced the outcome of his physiological ones, but the other Jack couldn’t visibly see.

If he was to think about it, there were multiple justifications as to why he kept it from him. One was not wanting to announce he had another secret, but the same reason could argue the opposite, if only to share on his own terms, before Jack found out himself. But he never did, and in the end, it all boiled down to the first excuse – not wanting to be seen as weak or a liability.

He was deaf.

Not completely, that would have been more difficult, but during the invasion he guessed he lost about 75% of his hearing. The first few days after the battle, he’d lived in a muffled world, his attention based solely on stabilising Lisa that he’d barely noticed. It wasn’t until struggled to understand Lisa when she awoke briefly, that the reality had struck him with full force.

He’d panicked for almost an hour, emotionally drained from the battle, but eventually he managed to pull himself together enough to think clearly. He couldn’t go to hospital, not when Lisa needed him, but he couldn’t stay like this.

He needed to be alert. To protect Lisa.

The benefit of being a Junior Researcher was he was often underestimated and had documented a large range of alien technology and it was that knowledge that had helped him.

He’d scavenged the ruins of the Tower just in time, both for more Cyber Tech for Lisa, but also technology from the archives. He’d been shocked to see members of Torchwood Three arriving as he left, but no-one spotted him as he walked down the street away from the ruins, and if they did, they didn’t bother giving him another glance. He always believed the best way to hide was in plain sight.

The hearing aid he developed consisted of a thin circuit board with a transmitter and/or receiver. He hadn’t fully understood how the alien tech worked, but despite being restricted with movement, Lisa helped considerably. She was more coherent at that time, more like herself, using her knowledge from R&D to combine the tech he’d scavenged.

He was certain he’d passed out with pain as he implanted the device at the back of his own skull, but he awoke to a world of noise, and hadn’t thought more on it as he developed his next plan to smuggle Lisa into Torchwood Three. He hadn’t given it much thought until his suspension after Lisa’s death. Petrified of the possibility that he had Cyber Technology imbedded in his head, he’d almost cut it out of his own head, before remembering that the implant wasn’t made of metal.

* * *

** 2\. Jack (Set Season one – post TKKS) **

“Tosh, you got a fix on the signals?” Jack asked, swinging the SUV round a sharp corner so fast that Owen had to grab the door handle to stop him from whacking his head.

“Two signals in Splott, and another in Riverside. Still getting read on the others,” Tosh announced from the back, not looking up from her screen. “They’re splitting up.”

“What the bloody hell are these creatures?” Owen scowled. “They’re like giant robot mosquitos.”

“Don’t know, but they sure are crafty.” Jack grinned, glancing over to the passenger seat.

“Five signals more in Grange Town.” Tosh interrupted. “They’re moving.”

“Reports of two more near Bute Park” Gwen added her phone to her ear, but one hand covering the receiver as she spoke. “They’re causing havoc with the phone lines at the Police Station.”

“Shit” Jack swore, slamming on the breaks causing the SUV to come to a squealing halt. “There’s too many of them to collect at once.”

“We need them to stop moving!”

“What about disrupting their technology?” Tosh asked. “Bit like an EMP. It can temporarily stop them from flying, long enough to collect them.”

“What about our technology – the hospitals and traffic lights.” Owen asked. “It could cause more problems than it solves.”

“It still might knock out our signals, but if I calibrate it to the energy signatures from the creatures, I could limit it to less than a minute.” Tosh theorized, already running the calculations. “Best I can do.”

“You have all the equipment for an EMP in your bag?” Gwen queried, amazed but before Tosh could answer; Jack started the engine up again.

“Do it.” He ordered. “What do you need?”

“Tallest building in the centre of Cardiff.”

“That I can do.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto was alone in the hub, tidying as he tried to distract himself. The others are on a mission to find to robot-like alien that had come through the rift, bringing up some unwanted memories.

“Ianto!” Jack’s overenthusiastic voice crackled through his comm in his ear.

“Sir?”

“For the last time it’s Jack.” He paused as if listening to someone else, before continuing. “Tosh’s going to set off an EMP to stun these creatures, but it’s going to interfere with our tech. Send an alert out to hospitals and the police about a possible power outage in approx. 5 minutes, and make sure the weevil cages are secure. The Hub might go into lockdown.”

“Yes sir. Sorry, Jack.”

He set about the tasks quickly, aware of the time limit. Exactly 5 minutes later, the lights flicked off and the computer crashed. His hands flew to cover his ears as a loud high-pitched screech pierced them, before suddenly cutting out to a deafening silence, upsetting his balance. He caught himself on the desk as he wavered, stopping himself from hitting the floor.

Ianto could see the lights flashing, signifying the alarms were blaring as the Hub went into Lockdown, but couldn’t hear a sound.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, waiting in silence. The Lockdown had already lifted as the power come back on, but he was still expecting his aid to burst back to life. He understood that the EMP would have disrupted the signals, but he had thought it would have rebooted by now.

His heart sped up as the silence continued, minutes turning into an hour. He’d collapsed onto the chair a while back, terrified that his secret was about to be revealed after so long. He wondered if it was time, but still he could guess how Jack would react, and he doubted it would be good.

Pulling on the mask he had perfected, he slowly made his way down to check on the weevils in vaults, pleased they were still contained. Coming back up, he was surprised to see that the others had already returned, carrying multiple boxes containing the immobile robots they had collected. He provided coffee silently as they studied the creatures, but mainly tried to stay out the way.

Jack would want to company soon, and he knew he couldn’t keep up the charade much longer. He mumbled a toneless good bye to Tosh, before walking home. Something felt wrong. His memory of time after the battle was hazy at most, but he remembered that he still could hear some noise, but now, all he heard was a silence. He felt disorientated from his surroundings. There were no quiet traffic noises as he crossed the road and he narrowly missed a car that had clearly run a red light.

Ianto shut the door of his flat, leaning back against the wall. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t watch TV, and didn’t he’d be able to concentrate on a book. Decision made, he slowly made his way to the bedroom and in to the ensuite, shaking out a couple sleeping pills from the bottle left over from after the events with the cannibals.

Dry swallowing, he knew that if his hearing hadn’t return by morning, Jack would find out, and if he didn’t kill him instantly for betraying him again, he had no doubt that it would be the end of his time at Torchwood. He would be retconned in by the end of tomorrow, dumped in a hospice somewhere, and would never see Jack again. Three years of his life would be gone in a second.

A wave of dizziness hit him at the thought and he slumped to the floor, feeling the cool tiles behind him. He knew he should move to his bed before the tablets took effect in about 30 minutes, but couldn’t find the energy as he gazed incessantly with the patterns on the floor.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack groaned as he saw the number of emails in his inbox, all asking questions about the short blackout. For someone who argued he didn’t need sleep, he was too tired to argue with people tonight, sending a short and snappy reply to all. He grimaced as he pressed send, imagining Ianto’s protesting at him for aggravating officials, and at the thought, he wondered whether Ianto would be staying at the Hub tonight.

Standing up, he looking out over the Hub. Tosh was typing away at her workstation, while Gwen and Owen were in the medical bay, still studying over the containment boxes. Scanning for Ianto, he tried not to look disappointed when he failed to spot him, guessing he was in the archives.

“Anyone seen Ianto?” He called out moving from his office to join them.

“No.” Owen reply was curt, not even looking up as he continued. “Teaboy evading you jumping down his pants?”

Jack mentally gave him no points for originality as ignored the jibe, seeing Tosh glance up. 

“I think he went home.”

“What? Why?” Ianto never went home before the others, and Jack started to feel worried, not helped by Tosh’s next comment.

“I don’t think he was feeling well. He sounded off.”

“Okay. I’ll call him…” Jack returned almost absentmindedly, turning back to his office. He pulled out his phone, dialling speed #1 as he sat down, frowning as it rang off to voicemail. He waited a few minutes before trying again in case he was busy, but when he still received no response, he shouted his command over to Owen before briskly striding out the Hub, snatching up his coat on the way.

Thankfully, Ianto’s flat was not too far from the Hub. He knocked firmly on the door, waiting for a response. His car was not outside, but the light was on and he remembered that the Welshman often walked to or from work.

The knocking increased in intensity as there continued to be no answer. “Ianto! It’s me, open up!” He banged again, worried as he pictured Ianto collapsed somewhere in the flat. “Ianto, can you hear me.”

Frantically, he was took a few steps back ready to charge forward and smash open the door before pausing, thinking that Ianto wouldn’t be happy for breaking down his door, especially if he was simply over-reacting. His gut felt he wasn’t though and pulling his key’s from his pocket, he opened the door quickly, rushing in. The flat looked empty, and it felt like forever before Jack stopped in the doorway of the bathroom. Panic froze him as he saw Ianto on the floor, until he spotted slight movement that showed he was still conscious.

“Ianto? What’s wrong?” The younger man made no sign of noticing his presence, but as Jack came closer, he was startled when Ianto abruptly swung out with his fist. He reeled back as it struck his face, suddenly recalling how hard Ianto could punch.

Turning back, Ianto hadn’t moved back but his gaze was now fixed at him, his eyes grey and apologetic haunting Jack with the contrast to usual. “Ianto?”

“Sorry. Didn’t know anyone was here.” 

Ianto’s voice was loud, and confused, Jack decided not to comment on his continuous calls. “What’s wrong, you hurt?” Ianto stared intently at his face, before looking away and slumping further down onto the floor. Jack crouched down and wrapped an arm round his shoulder, turning Ianto’s face back to him as he scanned for injuries. “Ianto. Talk to me. Please…”

“I c… hear …thing.” The sounds from Ianto were almost inaudible, but the parts Jack heard did nothing to reassure him, and only confused him further. He didn’t understand why Ianto couldn’t hear, and hoped it wasn’t a sign of anything worse. He needed Owen.

He gathered Ianto up from the cold floor and into is lap, ensuring they was looking directly at each other before talking, so Ianto could try read his lip. Though Ianto didn’t know, he’d lived through two world wars and had met many people with hearing issues.

“Hey. It’s okay. We’ll let Owen check you out, okay?”

He started to stand them both up, but wasn’t expecting Ianto to push away weakly, shaking his head.

“No. No Owen, please.”

“Ianto. He needs to check you out.” He argued, but Ianto wasn’t looking at him at, eyes closing.

“Not yet…morning. Promise?” The words ran together as Ianto collapsed back into him, unconscious. Jack’s heart stopped but his gaze fell across the open bottle of sleeping tablets by the sink, and realised he was simply sleeping.

Carefully, he picked up the prone form and gently laid him on his bed. He wasn’t totally sure why he wasn’t currently piling him in the SUV and racing for the Hub, but guessed it was to do with Ianto’s last comment. He couldn’t understand what had caused Ianto’s sudden deafness, and cursed that he couldn’t check the CCTV (it had gone out in the blackout), but something told him Ianto knew more than he was telling. He pulled up a chair next to the bed. He might not have explicitly promised Ianto but knew it was only because Ianto fell asleep before he could and wanted to honour that, but told himself that if there was any change, they would be heading straight for the Hub, promise or not.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Ianto awoke to a high pitched shrill that signified his hearing aid was working again. His hands flew to his ears to try and (pointlessly) block the noise, but eventually the disturbance settled down and he relished in hearing the traffic noises outside his window, despite having a throbbing headache.

He was surprised to see he was still in his flat as the memories flooded back and he glanced around his bedroom. The room was empty, but his chair sat beside his bed with Jack’s greatcoat over the back, the only sign the man had stayed the night.

Or well, most the night. Looking at the clock, he saw it was only just over 4 hours since he got back home. The bathroom door was still open, so guessed Jack was somewhere else in his flat. He wasn’t looking forward to the conversation that he anticipated was on the horizon, and a small part of him hoped, as his hearing was back, that he might be able to pass it as a one off, but he wasn’t convinced.

 _‘Better get it over with.’_ He thought, shakily getting out his bed. Despite the short sleep, he still felt weak and exhausted and guessed his sleeping tablets hadn’t completely worn off yet. Moving to his kitchen, sure enough he found Jack, pouring a coffee with his back to him.

“Jack.”

Said man spun around in shock, but smiled as he spotted Ianto leaning against the doorway. “Hey. Didn’t expect you to be up yet. How you feeling?” Jack was speaking slowly, emphasising each word, telling Ianto he still thought he couldn’t hear.

“I’m fine… I can hear you now.”

If Jack was surprised, he didn’t let it show, but went back to speaking normally. He stepped towards him, sipping his coffee as he spoke.

“So what happened?”

“It’s… nothing.” The excuse was poor, but Ianto couldn’t think of anything else as he moved forward to make his own drink. An arm stopped him as he tried to pass, pulling him back in front.

“Stop right there.” Jack’s commanding tone showed he back to being ‘boss’. “Now. What happened?” Ianto didn’t answer, and could tell Jack was beginning to be riled by his silence, but he knew it would only get worse. “Need I remind you of the last time you lied to me?”

Ianto couldn’t help but flinch at the question but was surprised when in return, the Jack’s own mask dropped and he ran his hand though his own hair.

“Sorry. That was uncalled for, but I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.” Jack pulled out a chair from under the table and gestured for Ianto to sit. “Would you tell me if I promise I won’t get angry?”

“You can’t promise that.” You can’t control emotions.

“Fine. I promise not to act till I’ve heard the whole story.”

Ianto figured it was best option he was going to get; there was no way out of this one.

“I’m deaf.” He revealed as he sat at the table, trying not to look at Jack but failing as he saw Jack’s eyebrow raise.

“Since?” Jack placed down his mug and joined him, sitting opposite.

“Canary Wharf. I can’t really remember what happened, I don’t think I even noticed for days, I was too busy with…” He trailed off and Jack nodded with understanding.

“So… As you can hear me perfectly well now, I take it the EMP killed you hearing aid.”

Ianto nodded as reply, obviously not going to say more, but Jack didn’t think it was over.

“There’s more isn’t there.” Ianto gaze dropped, which answered the question, but Jack continued. “Because you can’t have thought I would get angry just because you sometimes can’t hear. Is it because you haven’t told me or because it wasn’t in you’re file?”

“I’ve never told anyone…you’re the first to find out.” _‘Other than Lisa’_ he added silently, but he didn’t think that counted.

This time Jack didn’t even try to hide his astonishment. “How?”

“I couldn’t exactly walk into a hospital for an unknown time when I was looking after Lisa.”

“True…” Jack looked thoughtful. “Since I’ve never seen you wearing any, and all human tech came back online after a few minutes, can I presume your aid has got alien origin?”

Ianto hesitated. He hadn’t even thought of it, but as Jack said it, the events of last night made more sense, and he was almost embarrassed with how he acted. “Yes.” He said, subconsciously rubbing the back of his skull, where the implant lay.

Jack tensed as he watched the action, his mind flashing back to Canary Wharf. “It’s not Cyber…” He stopped as Ianto glared at him.

“If I even thought I had the smallest bit Cyber technology in my head, I would have ripped it out months ago. I almost did anyway.” He could see Jack visibly relaxing in front of him. “It’s not made of metal” He reassured.

“You know what it is?”

Ianto shrugged. “Don’t know. My memories are a bit hazy. I remember scavenging parts from R&D and the archives. It was the day you lot came to collect stuff.”

“The whole site was locked down!” Jack exclaimed. “How’d you get in?”

“I think you’ve forgotten how invisible I am to others?”

“You’re not invisible.” Jack objected, picking up his drink and grimacing at the cold taste. He stood up to pour another for both of them, before turning back around as if remembering something.

“You mean to say you created you own hearing aid implant with scavenged alien tech.” He asked, amazed. “You never told me you’re so good with tech.” Even as he said it, he recalled how Ianto had gotten them phone signal the other week when the Hub had been in lockdown.

“I’m not that good” Ianto replied, but Jack guessed he was either severely underplaying his skills, or truly didn’t understand how good he was. “Lisa was the assistant head of R&D so I picked up a few things, but I’m not as good as Tosh.”

“We’ll see.” Jack replied thoughtfully, wondering what training he could give him.

* * *

** 3\. Team (Set season two) **

Ianto ran down the empty street a few strides behind Jack, chasing down the latest rogue Weevil that was terrorising Cardiff. Owen and Gwen were supposedly a few street over trying to box it in, while Tosh remained at the Hub to monitor the CCTV. It had been three months since Jack had returned from travelling with the Doctor, and nearly a year since he had discovered that he had lost his hearing at Canary Wharf but after their discussion that morning, the matter had only been mentioned one or twice in passing. Ianto figured it made sense, since he could hear fine the rest of the time, he guessed there was no point of mentioning it.

The weevil escaped round a corner and Ianto readied his gun as they got closer, in case it jumped them as they passed, but it had vanished from sight, presuming disappearing into one of the alleys.

A deafening scream shot pain though his head without warning and Ianto staggered forward, dropping his gun to the floor as he grabbed his ears, mouth opening in an involuntary scream of his own. Jack whipped round fearing the weevil had circled back to attack, but instead saw Ianto’s eyes roll back in his head and shaking off the paralysing shock he rushed over, managing to get wrap his arms around Ianto’s shoulders to support his lover as he collapsed to the ground.

“Owen! Corner of Bute Street…Now!”

“On it.” The doctor must have heard something in his voice as he didn’t question the order, and Jack could hear running feet over the comm.

Jack lifted Ianto into his arms, as sudden muscle spasms shook the prone form as he seized violently, his back arching and limbs kicking out in random directions. Jack gripped tight despite the blows he was receiving, protecting Ianto’s head from the hard floor. His eyes were white and staring sightlessly, his breaths almost undetectable, coming in irregular short gasps that caused Jack’s heart to freeze each time as he waited for the next.

“Ianto. Hold on. Please…stay with me.”

Owen came skidding to his knees beside them, not wasting time to ask what happened. “How long he been seizing?”

“Couple minutes. Do something!”

“I can’t, we have to wait it out.”

The seizure lasted a full three minutes, but to Jack it felt like decades before Ianto’s eyes slid shut and his body relaxed in Jack’s hold.

As soon as Ianto stilled, Owen moved his fingers checking his pulse and eyes. “Ianto, can you hear me. Oi, Teaboy. No sleeping on the job.”

Jack joined in with his own pleas, but Ianto showed no sign of waking. Owen ran his hand through his hair, checking for head injuries, finding none as Jack suspected. This wasn’t caused by something physical.

 **“** No sign of any injuries, what happened?” Jack didn’t respond, looking at Ianto, his eyes fearful, and Owen increased his voice, startling him out of his thoughts. “Jack!”

“Sorry, no, he just collapsed.”

“Let’s get him back to Hub, I need to run some scans”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Back in the Hub it was over half an hour, before Owen joined the others by the workstations. After laying Ianto in the medical bay, Jack wanted to stay, but Owen had literally kicked him out, not wanting him under his feet, but he’d stayed close in case Ianto awoke.

Owen walked in, tossing a folder onto a nearby station. “Makes no sense.”

“What doesn’t?” Jack asked sounding concerned. “How’s Ianto?”

“Stable, but he’s still out. Slight swelling from the seizure, but the weird thing is there’s no sign of anything that caused it.”

“Nothing?”

“No.” Owen confirmed, picking up the folder again, and having another glance at the scans. “Good news is the swelling isn’t too serious, but I can’t be sure until he wakes up.”

“Jack?”

Jack had opened his mouth to reply to Owen, but was stopped by Tosh calling his name and looking up from where she’d been focusing on her computer screen. “Yes?”

“A signal’s broadcasting across Cardiff, I thought it was rift spike earlier but when I tried to pinpoint it to a location, I found something messing with the computer.”

“What? How?”

“Something’s blocking the cause, but it originated exactly 43 mins ago.”

Jack hadn’t been timekeeping, but it wasn’t hard to interpret what Tosh was suggesting. 43 mins ago was the same time Ianto had collapsed, and by the looks on the others faces, they’d figured it out too.

“So what, this signal caused Ianto’s seizure? How? Why him?” Gwen asked, looking confused. Before anyone could answer, a loud rapid beeping arose from the medical bay.

“Keep working on that source!” Jack was ahead of Owen as they rushed down the steps, fearing that Ianto had deteriorated but instead were stunned to see he was awake. Jack’s hopes faded however when he saw Ianto was still clearly agitated, body tense with pain. Jack rested a reassuring hand on his arm, trying not to jump as Ianto grabbed his wrist tight to channel his pain.

“Hurts...Shut up…out… my head!”

“Teaboy. Ianto calm down, it’s us.”

Ianto’s eyes were clenched shut, is arms wrapped round his head as if trying to block something out. Jack’s mind made the connection between the signals and Gwen’s question, remembering the conversation they’d had before he’d left.

“Jack, you’ve got to calm him down, or I’ll have to sedate him. This isn’t helping him.”

Making his decision, Jack realised the only way to calm Ianto down would be alone. “Out!”

“Jack…”

“I gave you an order. Out!”

Owen tried to argue, but seeing Jack’s expression, begrudgingly left the med bay, but noticeably left the sedative in Jack’s sight. As soon as he was out of ear-shot, Jack returned his attention to Ianto who was still tense with pain and eyes shut.

 **“** Ianto, look at me…focus on my voice, block everything else out.”

He flinched at the voice as if it hurt his head, but didn’t open his eyes. As a hunch, Jack leaned forwards pressing a chaste kiss against Ianto lips, his free hand moving to press a sequence of buttons on his VM. Ianto’s eyes snapped open at both the kiss and the sudden silence, blinking as he focused on his Jack’s face.

“Signal blocker.” Jack supplied.

“Get it out!” His voice was hoarse and strained as he started to sit up, but Jack understood what he meant.

“Your aid? I don’t know what I am looking for."

Ianto stared at him puzzled, and Jack kicked himself as he remembered his VM would have blocked his voice as well. Silently, he helped Ianto to his feet supporting him out the bay, throwing Owen a glare the clearly read ‘ _later’_ as the doctor took a step forward. Entering his office, he supported Ianto as he dropped exhausted onto the sofa before shutting the door, and grabbing a piece of parchment from his desk.

‘YOU OKAY?’

Ianto read the paper and nodded, grimacing as the movement hurt his head.

‘HEADACHE?’

Not wanting a repeat, Ianto swallowed a lump in his throat before answering, his voice shaky. “Yes. What happened?”

‘SOME KIND OF SIGNAL BROADCASTING ACROSS CARDIFF, MESSING WITH THE COMPUTERS. TOSH’S ON IT.’ Gesturing at his VM, he added a line underneath. ‘SHORT RANGE SIGNAL BLOCKER’

“I want it out.” Ianto repeated, one hand running over the slight raise of a scar at the base of his hairline. “Please.”

Jack recognised in his tone this was not something to argue with, but he knew he couldn’t do it himself.

‘WE CAN ASK OWEN.’

Despite his headache, Ianto vigorously shook his head. “No”

‘I DON’T WANT TO MAKE THINGS WORSE. YOU HAD A SEIZURE, IANTO. HE NEEDS TO CHECK YOU OUT ANYWAY.’

Ianto looked up surprised at the new revelation. Jack was sitting next to him, his expressions fully open and seeing his concerned look, Ianto reluctantly nodded. “Okay.”

Patting his thigh, Jack stood up and opened his office door and calling out to the rest of the team before returning.

‘TOLD THEM BOARDROOM IN 5 MINUTES. YOU WANT TO LEAD, OR SHALL I?’

While Ianto would rather he told his secret himself, he knew it would be easier to let Jack lead. There would be a lot of questions and without his hearing, it would be difficult to follow. “You”.

‘OKAY. NEED ANYTHING?’

”Decapitation?” Ianto deadpanned. “My head’s killing me anyway.”

***TW***TW***TW***TW***

The rest of the team were already in the boardroom when Jack and Ianto arrived. The room wasn’t completely silent, but the sound limited to indistinguishable murmurs, but from the various moving mouths as he looked around the room, Ianto could guess that the questions had already started firing. For one brief second he was glad he couldn’t hear, as he was certain the noise would have made his headache worse. Jack kept on arm on him, obviously ignoring the questions as he helped him into a chair before taking the seat next to him.

“Tosh, any luck with that signal?”

“Yes” She replied, presenting some scans on the large screen. “Seems to be emitting from a device that came through the rift.”

“Any chance of stopping it?”

“Not without the device with me. I have a location though”

“Okay. After this meeting, take Gwen and go collect it.”

“But why can’t Owen g-”

“Owen is going to be busy with Ianto, that why.” Jack interrupted Gwen, before she could finish complaining.

“Okay, that’s it. What’s wrong with teaboy?” Owen asked, having been ignoring the conversation in favour of studying Ianto. “He hasn’t made a single quip or eye roll this entire time. You shouldn’t have chucked me out; by the looks of it he has a killer headache and I need to run some tests.”

Ianto had tried to follow the conversation but having never gotten the grasp of lip-reading, he’d quickly given up, staring at the table. Jack squeezed his hand as if asking once more for permission and glancing up, Ianto nodded.

“Ianto has something to tell you, and because of what it entails, he’s asked me to tell you.”

“He’s not hiding another girlfriend in the basement is he?”

“One more comment like that, and I’ll retcon you back to infancy, don’t think I won’t.” Jack snapped back, angry.

Holding up his hands, Owen apologised. “Sorry. What is it then? Something must be wrong, because the last time I mentioned Lisa like that, I ended up with a bullet in shoulder, and yet he hasn’t even flinched.”

“You still might if I tell him.” Jack wasn’t entirely satisfied by the apology, but let it slide for now, knowing he needed the doctor at full strength to help Ianto. “Ianto currently can’t hear you”

“What?” “Was it the seizure?” “How?”

Three voices overlapped each other again and holding up his hand, Jack asked for silence.

“If you wait I’ll explain. No, it wasn’t the seizure. Ianto lost his hearing at Canary Wharf, he has a Torchwood style aid, but the signal today interfered with it, and that’s what caused the seizure. I’ve currently blocked the signal, but it’s short range which is why we need to get that device as soon as possible.”

“What? How did he lose his hearing?”

“Seriously Gwen? Did you even read the report of the battle?” Owen asked, but at Gwen’s confused look he continued without waiting for an answer. “You remember the noise one Cyberman made right? Imagine thousands of them stamping around, all with a ton load of machinery and I’m also guessing a lot of firepower, from our side I mean. To be honest I’m more surprised about how he kept it out his medical file.”

“He’d never told anyone until I found out just before last Christmas.”

“So how did he get his aid?” Tosh asked, curious about the tech Ianto had used.

“Don’t know, he said he made it himself out of scavenged tech from the Torchwood one archives.”

“Makes sense. If it’s made of alien technology, it might be why it reacted the way it did to this signal.”

“Good point” Jack looked thoughtful, before nodding and turning the Owen. “Anyway, Ianto’s wants the hearing aid out his head and after what happened today I think I understand why.”

“Wait you mean teaboy here implanted a hearing aid in his own head? Why hasn’t it shown up on the scans.”

Jack frowned, not knowing the answer. He quickly relayed Owen’s question to Ianto using the paper he’d brought with them.

“It’s quite small” Ianto supplied, talking for the first time, his voice was monotone. “You wouldn’t spot it if you weren’t looking.”

Almost as if given a challenge, Owen immediately grabbed his folder of scans and began staring intently as he tried to spot the device.

“Okay, that about sums everything up. Anymore questions you’ll have to ask Ianto directly. Tosh and Gwen go and retrieve that device, before it causes any other trouble.”

“Once Ianto gets his aid out, if Owen gives it to me I can see if I can create a temporary aid based on the current, which can work externally.”

Jack passed the offer to Ianto who smiled and nodded. “Thanks”

Returning the smile, Tosh left the boardroom, Gwen following behind more hesitantly. Obviously giving up with the search, Owen dropped the scan with a huff. “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.” Pointing at Jack and Ianto, he stood up. “You two. Med bay now”

“Give us two minutes.”

After Owen left, Jack retook Ianto’s hand before writing another message.

‘THAT DIDN’T GO SO BADLY? HOW YOU DOING?’

“I’m taking your word for it. I didn’t hear a single word of what you said.”

‘TOSH HAS ALREADY OFFERED HER HELP AND OWEN'S A TWAT BUT HE’S A DOCTOR FIRST. ANYWAY IF THEY GIVE YOU ANY TROUBLE YOU CAN ALWAYS SERVE THEM DECAF’

“Who says I don’t already?”

**Notes: Sorry it look so long. I had saved it for July so I didn’t ruin the dream too quickly after just discovering Torchwood, but on Thursday I finally decided to torture myself with watching Children of Earth. Despite knowing what happened, it still completely killed me! I cried all day and then had to take a couple days break, because I couldn’t write anything without getting upset again. Why do this to Jack, let alone us! (P.S. The music made it so much worse)**

**Can anyone suggest any good Torchwood COE fix it stories? Or any where Jack fixes he relationship with Alice (pre or post COE don't mind)?**


End file.
